


You're My Lucky Charm

by GwennhaduBug



Series: Your Lucky Charm [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: As in set your crock-pot on low for a week slow burn, Eventual reveal, F/M, Lukanette primarily functions as a precursor to the main couple, Reveal Fic, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-05-09 13:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 78,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GwennhaduBug/pseuds/GwennhaduBug
Summary: For Marinette, it turns out that having a boyfriend isn't what she expected. Her Ladybug secrets are dragging her down and straining their relationship. Maybe the one upside is that her relationship gives her the confidence to really get to know Adrien- and she likes what she's getting to know. And for Adrien, he expected to feel jealous when Ladybug eventually got a boyfriend...but why did it matter that Marinette had one?It's a good thing Adrien has his lucky charm. He needs all the luck he can get.





	1. Chasing Ladybugs

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set immediately after Captain Hardrock...with the assumption that chronologically, Captain Hardrock actually happened after 2.13 and 2.14. If you haven't seen those two episodes, don't worry- I won't be including spoilers from them. Just working to make sure it flows with canon.
> 
> Additionally, I watch Miraculous Ladybug in French (with English subs), so I am writing this in English but as if the characters are speaking French. That means I may slip in French idioms or other non-translatable details. I will have hover text in-story and footnotes in my end notes to explain any of that. 
> 
> My story is complete on my hard-drive, so I'll be uploading regularly (shooting for twice a week) as I edit!

Stickyfingers, a gigantic akumatized woman with three hands (and all of them almost covered in stolen rings) chased after Ladybug and Chat Noir. “I just want your pretty ring, pretty kitty! GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS!!” She ran after them on the counters of the large, smashed-up  bijouterie[1], every step she took shattering glass underfoot and sending rings, bracelets, and necklaces every which way. Ladybug threw her yo-yo to a pillar across the room, grabbing Chat’s side as they zipped away from her.

 “Sorry,” Chat called out behind them, “I’d give you a ring, but this line’s busy!”

 “We’ve got to buy some time and block her!” Ladybug told him.

 “What do you have in mind?” As soon as his feet his the ground, Ladybug pointed at the giant display right next to them, towering nearly to the ceiling. Chat didn’t need another word; he knew exactly what she needed. He whirled around, shouting, “Cataclysm!” and his bubbling black hand took the display down with one touch. The oak and glass that had previously displayed priceless jewels now crumbled into a barricade between them and Stickyfingers. The giant woman hit the wall with a resounding smack. “That’s the luck you get when you let a black cat cross your path!” Chat teased.

 “Alright...now we’ve got a little bit of time to think…” Ladybug muttered.

 Chat scooted closer to her, raising his eyebrows. “Or...we could just enjoy the alone-time we bought ourselves.” The first beep from his miraculous rang out.

 Ladybug tapped the ring, responding quickly, “Or not. We’ve got to wrap this up!” She took a step away from Chat and spun gracefully around, shouting “Lucky Charm!”

 Ladybug’s lucky charm fell from the sky. It was so small, Chat couldn’t even tell what it was when it landed softly in Ladybug’s outstretched hands. Not until he heard her ask in confusion, “a mousetrap?”

 It was like the joke wrote itself. “Aw, the only mousetrap you need is me!” He flashed her a grin, and Ladybug responded with an unamused look, but her eyes roved over him anyway, trying to find another clue. They didn’t go far, as she started staring….at Chat’s lower waist.

 Chat Noir gulped and felt blood rushing under her gaze.

 But Ladybug didn’t look there long, her eyes dancing around for more clues, finishing on the jewelry cabinet behind them, smashed partly open. “I’ve got it!” She cheered. “Chat, I need your pockets.”

 He didn’t think twice. Being in a partnership with the girl he loved meant absolute trust, even when he was undressing mid-battle. “My tail, my pockets...you’ll ask for my shirt next, my lady!” He quipped.

 “Keep your shirt _on,_ please...but I am going to need your participation with this. Can you-”

 “HERE, KITTY KITTY KITTY! Sticky fingers isn’t done with her collection yet!!” Stickyfingers shoved loudly against the barricades counter they hid behind. She was grunting and growing impatient. Dust and splinters tumbled from the wall and rained onto the two teen heroes.

 Quickly, Chat Noir leaned closer so Ladybug could whisper the plan. Right as she finished, as if on cue, his ring beeped for the second time. Only three minutes left. “-and HURRY!” Ladybug warned. Chat Noir saw concern ripple across her face and felt it as she gripped his claws tight. “I hate using you as bait like this.”

 “Aw, don’t worry. I know you just understand how unresistable I am to the ladies,” Chat replied. “I’m their catnip.”

 “Get out there before you’re the cat that’s nipped,” Ladybug hissed.

 Chats eyes went wide. His heart swelled just a little “Hey, that’s a great one, buginette!” He saw her shoo him away and pounced into action.

 The plan was risky, like all of Chat Noir’s favorites. He pried part of the barricade away, enough that Stickyfingers could see them with one giant pink eye. Loudly, Chat spoke up. “I can’t stay back here! I’ve got to keep my miraculous and these beautiful diamond rings away and safe from this monster.”

 “MONSTER?!” Stickfingers roared...not convincing them that Chat was wrong. One of her three claw-like hands covered in rings started digging at the small hole in the barricade. “I am a _lady_ , a lady who likes fine things! There’s nothing more refined and less monstrous than THAT!”

 “I’ll put the rings safe in my pocket and hide!” Chat continued, as if he hadn’t heard the outrage. They adjusted their positions so that Stickyfingers could peek through the hole and...just baaarely make out Chat’s pockets in front of the hole.  Adjusting her position to watch better, Stickyfingers could see three dainty diamond rings drop into an open pocket. What Stickfingers couldn’t see was that the decoy rings had fallen on top of a red and black polka-dot mousetrap inside. Chat held his baton in a tight grip and gave Ladybug a stern nod. Quietly, he said, “After this, let’s talk about getting a ring on _your_ finger.”

 “Get _going_ , chaton!”

 “I’m going!” Chat shouted loud enough for both women to hear. He busted through the weakest part of the barricade, running for the door. Chat’s blood ran cold as he watched Stickyfingers turn her massive body away from the barricade and reach out to grab him with one of her hands- pinning his arms to his chest and squeezing tight. Chat Noir squeaked in pain and surprise...and as quickly as she had grabbed him, her second hand moved towards the zipped pockets on his suit.

 She paused as Hawk Moth’s mind-control mask appeared over her eyes. Just long enough for Ladybug to get into position. It should be just a few more seconds…  “Yes, I’ll get it for you, Master! As soon as I have these diamond rings, I’ll get the pretty miraculous ring as well.”

 Stickyfingers cackled loudly as she dug her hand into the pocket, but she opened the wrong one first. She pulled out Adrien’s Marinette Lucky Charm and growled at it, throwing it on the floor. “What is this garbage?!” She asked. Nervously, Chat looked from the charm to Ladybug, but Ladybug wasn’t fixated on it. Her eyes were trained on Stickyfingers. The akuma monster went back to the second pocket to grab the decoy ring and her cackle quickly changed into a howl of pain. She waved her second hand around, the mousetrap clamped over her fingers. Ladybug leapt into action while Stickyfingers was distracted, before she could use her third hand to take off the trap. Ladybug threw her yo-yo at the third hand, wrapping it tight and bringing it down to the ground.

 “Go, Chat!” Ladybug yelled, using both hands to keep the third hand occupied.

 Chat flicked his baton and it spread Stickyfinger’s first hand wide open, allowing him to fall softly to the ground. “I’ll be taking this,” he said, whacking Stickyfingers’ first hand that had held him captive with his baton. She howled in pain, waving the hand around. “And this,” Chat said, darting around on the ground to scoop up his lucky charm before Ladybug could look closer, “Annnd this.” He had finally reached the third hand, wired to the ground by way of Ladybug’s yo-yo. Chat started to smack the many rings like he was playing whack-a-mole.

 “It’s the purple one!” Ladybug shouted. Chat needed no more instruction and stomped on the finger wearing the purple ring. She howled in pain. The ring cracked and a dark purple butterfly akuma flew out.

 “Oops, a little too hard? Don’t try to attack my partner next time!” He looked at the parner in question opening her yo-yo. Chat watched in admiration at his favorite part of battle: the end, when they knew everyone was safe and Paris would zap back to normal momentarily. He got to watch Ladybug twirl with grace and de-evilize the akuma, and set it free with a soft and tender, “bye-bye, little butterfly”.

 She pulled the mousetrap off of a weakened Stickyfingers’ hands and threw it into the air. In a flood of red and black ladybug bubbles, the jewelry store and the woman returned to normal. Chat noticed even the rings in his pocket were back in place in the jewelry cabinet, so he zipped the pockets into the closed position. Ladybug approached. “Pound it!” they cheered together. But Ladybug didn’t back away immediately.

 “What do you keep in there, anyway?” she asked. “You don’t need a pocket for your baton.” 

Chat grinned at his Lady. He hated lying to Ladybug and always gave her as much truth as possible- even if shrouded in jokes. But he couldn’t risk showing her the Marinette lucky charm- after all, it held the akuma when his own bodyguard had fought against the two superheroes. She would recognize it instantly. “Just extra luck in case my favorite lucky bug isn’t around,” he said, nudging her softly. His ring beeped its final warning. “And I always keep a snack pocket!” He opened it and popped a chocolate into the air, catching it in front of Ladybug’s face. She laughed, and his heart did a somersault. “Let me know if you ever need some sweetness!” He said, starting to dart away to detransform. “Or candy!”

He hoped she was laughing again and knew she’d be talking to the now very confused Parisian woman that had tried to kill them both. But Chat- now Adrien- was too far to hear. He collapsed against the wall of the subway, pulling a cheesier snack out of his pants pocket for a very tired Plagg.

“Mmf, brie today?” Plagg asked with his mouth full. “We were right next to a fromagerie [2]. Couldn’t you have sprung for something a little more...pungent?”

But Adrien ignored him. From his other pocket, he pulled out his lucky charm, squeezing it tight. “Thanks for letting me take this with me when I transform,” he said. “I need all the luck I can get with Ladybug.”

Plagg laughed. “You can say that again, loverboy. Just don’t go giving the GOOD cheese to that plastic thing. I’m the real magic, you know.”

“I know, I know.” Adrien thought about the girl who gave him the lucky charm...and then about the girl who was his lucky charm, his lucky ladybug, the reason he didn’t fail in battle and looked forward to every morning, even when his father wouldn’t let him see his other friends at school. No, Plagg wasn’t the real magic. It was her.

—-

It was just two days after the incident in the jewelry store. Adrien watched his fingers as they rehearsed Ivan’s revised song, “Mylène mon oxygène”. Mylène herself was sitting not too far off, beaming. “Wait, wait, wait, everybody,” Ivan called. He tapped his drum sticks together to try and get their attention. He waved his hands until all the music stopped. “You guys aren’t getting the feel just right.”

“Isn’t it a screaming song?” Rose asked as she looked up from her microphone. “So. Angry! Cool! Hardcore!”

“No, no, no,” Ivan said, shaking his head. “Not at all. What’s the song about?”

Juleka answered this time. “Uhh...Mylène?”

“Kind of,” Ivan said. “It’s about Mylène to me. But this song isn’t about Mylène to _you_. When I’m drumming, I’m drumming about her. But when you’re playing bass, it shouldn’t be about Mylène.”

Adrien was confused. But wasn’t the song all about Ivan and Mylène? He wrote it for and about her, didn’t he? “What do you mean, Ivan?”

“You don’t love Mylène. So you can’t sing about her,” Ivan tried to explain.

“Well, sure, but isn’t the song about her?”

Luka strummed once on his guitar. “I think I get what the big man’s trying to say. The lyrics- they’re about _love_ . About how she’s his oxygen, that she’s stronger than an oak but he still wants to protect her. It’s about that feeling of love and need and protection. It’s not this kind of feeling…” He strummed again, this time one of the chords from the song, played loud and hard, with a rock and roll whammy at the end. “It’s _this_ kind.” He played again. It was the same chord, just as loud, but the way his fingers strummed each note individually first and let them ring out, it sounded more...like a love song.

Ivan was beaming. “Yeah! Exactly! You guys were thinking about it all wrong. You need to think about who you love and play this song for them.”

Rose leapt up and down. “Oooh!” She spun around and pointed at Juleka, who jumped a little in surprise. “So, I’m singing the words _Mylène_ , but I’m really singing about Juleka! Let me try!” She cleared her throat. Adrien watched as Juleka moved her head in a way that her hair covered most of her face, but he could see her smiling in sheepish adoration. “ _WOULD YOU BE MY QUEEN?!_ ” Rose sang, clenching her vocal chords as she let out a belted scream.

Ivan laughed and clapped. The other bandmates had heard the difference and also clapped. “That’s right! So Rose is singing about Juleka...and Juleka, you’re playing for Rose, right?”

Juleka cleared her throat. She smiled, looking over at the little blonde girl who was smiling right back. “Yeah, I am. _My Oxygen_.” She looked over at Adrien at the keyboard. “What about you, Adrien?”

“Me?!” Adrien jumped with a start. He knew immediately what girl was stronger than an oak who struggled and fought for others, the girl he would never hurt. 

“Yeah, you,” Rose agreed. “Tell us!” She had a huge grin on her face. 

“He’s just embarrassed,” Ivan said from the drum. “Adrien, don’t worry. We all know you have a crush on Ladybug. You can play about her!” Adrien grinned weakly, scratching the back of his neck.

Rose’s face fell from a grin to wide, shocked eyes. “ _Ladybug?!_ I thought he liked-”

Adrien saw Juleka clear her throat and shake her head at Rose. She looked disappointed. _Who did she think I liked_? Luka spoke up instead. “You have a crush on Miraculous Ladybug, Adrien?”

“Yeah, I do. She’s amazing- she’s just like this song. But I mean, it’s not a big deal. You don’t have to think anything weird about it, it’s just Ladybug. A celebrity crush. Everybody loves her. Everybody has a crush on her.” he said. Frankly, it was a convenient thing. Nobody questioned him being in love with Ladybug, nobody thought that must make him Chat Noir, when most of Paris loved her one way or another.

“I don’t,” Luka said, shrugging.

“How can you _not?_ ” Adrien asked, shocked, before he realized how loud he was. Mylène giggled from her seat at his horror.

“Hey, man. It’s not like I don’t like her. She’s awesome. You know that- we've talked about how cool Ladybug is. She’s just not my type. I like girls who are more real. Brave girls, smart girls.”

“Ladybug is the bravest girl in Paris,” Adrien argued.

“Only because she has superpowers,” Luka said, fiddling with his guitar. Adrien gripped the side of his keyboard in frustration. He had to keep his cool. So what if Luka didn’t love Ladybug? So what if he was _completely, utterly wrong_. Luka didn’t know her personally and know how brave and amazing she really was.

“Okay,” Rose said, trying to ease the tension in the band, “So Adrien will play keyboard about Ladybug. Who are you playing guitar for, Luka?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said with a laugh.

“I do,” Juleka teased.

“Juleka, shut up, you don’t know anything,” Luka said back, glaring at his sister.

“Yeah, I do. You write her songs, Luka.”

“I write a lot of songs!”

“You text her all the time, Luka.”

“I text a lot of friends!”

“You want to date her, Luka.”

Ivan sighed. “Ah, come on, Couffaines. Just tell us who it is so Luka can play guitar and we can keep practicing Mylène’s song.” He gestured to his girlfriend. “I want her to hear it really good!”

Juleka put her hands on her hips and spoke for her brother. “ _Luka_ likes _Marinette_.”

Adrien froze. Marinette? What? _His_ Marinette?? Marinette wasn’t Adrien’s, but...she was his best female friend! And Luka, the Ladybug-hater, liked her? What kind of ridiculous twist was that?! And he was two years older than them… what did he want to do with Marinette? “You like Marinette?!” he asked.

Rose snapped to look at Adrien, eyes glowing. She followed the conversation like it was ping-pong.

“Yeah, I do. She’s cool.”

“Since when?”

“Since she saved all our lives on the boat.”

“Ladybug saved all your lives the same exact day and you think she’s lame!”

“ _Marinette_ doesn’t have a magic yo-yo and superpowers. And I didn't say Ladybug was 'lame'- just that Marinette was crazy brave to save us. ”

“But you’ve only met her once!”

“I've met her more than that; she’s friends with Juleka.  She was here a few days ago. And I want to get to know her better. Why do you care so much?”

Adrien was taken aback. He realized he was leaning entirely over the piano and tried to relax his position. “I-...um. Because she’s a really, really good friend. And I’m looking out for her. I like her and want to make sure she’s okay.” He could hear Rose saying ‘awww!’ and tried to ignore her. “Marinette is just a friend.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter that I want to date her. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Well...good.

The band reached an awkward silence. Mylène was actually the one to clear her throat. Then Ivan spoke up again. “Okay, so...that was kind of weird, but we all know who we’re singing about now, right? I’m drumming for Mylène. Rose and Juleka are singing and playing for each other. Luka’s playing for Marinette, and Adrien’s playing for Ladybug.”

“You sure he’s not _also_ playing for Marinette?” Juleka said slyly. Rose and Luka’s faces both snapped to Adrien with completely different facial expressions, one delighted, one cautious.

Adrien shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. “Yes, I’m sure. Marinette’s just a friend. I’m playing for Ladybug.” He sighed. He wanted to protect Marinette and make sure she was happy and safe. Luka was a really good guy. He was friendly and kind to Adrien and if he dated Marinette, they probably would be happy. Sure, he was stupid for not liking Ladybug...but at least his taste in women was good enough to realize what a gem Marinette was. Hopefully he was also enough to be worth her.

But all of that aside, he didn’t _like-like_ Marinette. He loved Ladybug. She was the one who fit the lyrics. “I’m playing for Ladybug,” he repeated, quickly playing some of the notes from Jagged Stone’s song he wrote for Ladybug at the last concert.

Ivan nodded sternly. “Then let’s try again, from the top. Rose, you ready?”

“Aye Aye, captain!” Rose squeaked. She coughed and cleared her throat, then tried again in her most alto of voices. “Aye Aye, Captain!”

Ivan counted them off and the band started to play again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1Bijouterie: Jewelry Store 
> 
> 2  Fromagerie: Cheese Store


	2. Compass Points

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so short it actually hurts me. Posting it quickly to feel better about it being So Dang Short.  
> Also, this is our first time in Marinette's POV- the POV will switch between Marinette and Adrien every chapter.
> 
> As I mentioned last time, French terms will have hover-text explanations and footnotes. This is the best I can figure out with coding right now!

Marinette enjoyed the summer air and the noises of the Seine. Not that the Seine really _smelled_ all that great...but it did encourage sweet breezes to slip through her hair and tickle her face. She could hear rushing cars, tinkling bells, laughing tourists, and the lapping water in front of her feet. All excellent inspiration as she sketched on a bench along the riverwalk. Tikki peeked out from her purse at Marinette’s sketchbook. “What are you drawing?”

“A birthday gift for Alya,” Marinette replied, trying a third design.

“It looks like your Ladybug mask!”

“It’s supposed to,” she agreed, rounding out a few polka dots, “but it’s a handbag. I thought about making a Rena Rouge one for her,” Marinette pointed to a design on another page with long ears making a shoulder strap, “but I decided against it. She doesn’t know I know, I don’t want to make her sad, anyway. It’s always hard for her to give up.”

“I liked seeing Rena and Trixx again,” Tikki said.

“Me too! But I’m glad my friend doesn’t have to deal with an entire secret life...just a secret few days. Can you imagine Alya never knowing that her partner was her best friend all along? Spending all day wishing she could tell someone who would understand...not knowing she could tell me?”

Tikki’s eyes bulged and her lips puckered. She chuckled nervously, “Yeah...annoying. But let’s talk about her bag instead!”

“What about it?” Marinette asked, doodling a few variations for the strap attachment.

“It’s very good. Alya loves Ladybug almost as much as she loves you! She’s going to really like this gift.”

Marinette turned to look at Tikki and smiled. “Considering how much she loves Ladybug...that’s super sweet, Tikki!”

“Well, it’s true. I’ve had Ladybugs with no support system before and you are very lucky to have someone who loves both sides of you like Alya does. Whether it’s school, music, art, boys….she is always right there, isn’t she?”

Laughing, Marinette nodded. “ _Especially_ about boys. She’s put up with a lot from me over the years with Adrien,” his name came out in a sigh, “and she loves talking to me about Luka, too. She’s never once made me feel bad for liking two boys.”

“Why would she? There’s nothing wrong with a harmless crush. Love is meant to be spread around!”

“So you really don’t think I’m...cheating on Adrien by talking with Luka? And….liking him?”

“Cheating? Marinette, Adrien doesn’t even know how you feel!” Tikki settled on top of the sketchbook and shook her head, smiling wide. “If anything, you’re keeping your heart open. I’m proud of you, Marinette. From some of the things you’ve told your friends and Chat Noir, it sounded like you’d never even give anyone but Adrien a chance. I’m proud of you for being open to more love and friendship.”

Marinette grinned back at Tikki. “How am I so lucky to have you _and_ Alya as best friends?”

“I think we’re the lucky ones.”

Just then, Marinette’s phone beeped. She fumbled with it excitedly, nearly throwing it into the Seine when she saw who was texting her. “It’s Luka! He wants to meet up after band practice when they finish in 15 minutes!”

“Marinette...is that why we just _happen_ to be on the Seine today?” Tikki asked.

Marinette smiled sheepishly at her tiny friend and looked up the river. They were just within sight of The Liberty and just out of earshot of Kitty Section’s rehearsal. “So what if I know the band practice schedule? I like keeping track of my friends!” She stood up and slipped her sketchbook next to her kwami.

The little kwami asked innocently, “Which ‘friend’? Luka or Adrien?”

“Tikki!” Marinette chastised. “Luka’s the one who texted me, isn’t he?” She was blushing. Tikki definitely had a point- as they had just said, Marinette would have been perfectly happy with an invitation from either boy. But Adrien wasn’t inviting her to come watch band practice any time soon.

“So then...we’re going to see Luka?”

Marinette stood up and started walking without answering right away. “I don’t see why we can’t see both,” she finally muttered.

\--

Marinette boarded the ship, now clearly hearing Rose scream her lyrics about pink poodles sharing ice cream with strays. Anarka greeted Marinette with a big hug and a wink. She shouted to be heard over the music, “They’re just finishin’ up, lassie. Mylène’s already here, if ya wanna join her in the groupie section!”

“Thanks, Madame Couffaine!” Marinette shouted back.

“Argh, call me Anaraka, Marinette! Y’know that!” Anarka smacked Marinette’s shoulder and gave her a big wink. Marinette laughed and waved as she went to find her friends.

She found Mylène and gave her a polite bisou[1], then they sat back down. Since the music festival, Marinette had visited Kitty Section a lot more than before. Adrien was in it now...and she was really getting along with Luka. It was nice to see her other friends more often as well, but Mylène wasn’t quite as much of a draw as the two musicians she watched now.

Marinette sighed, watching Adrien kill his keyboard solo, eyes going back to Luka when the guitar jumped back in. Luka looked up from his riff and saw Marinette. He smiled at her, wide and excited. She blushed bright red and smiled back, waving helplessly.

Mylène spoke up, “Nice to see you, Marinette! The band was talking about you a few songs ago, actually.”

“What? Why?” Marinette was surprised. Who was talking about her?

Mylène looked over at the band and bit her lip. “I probably shouldn’t say. But I’m sure you’ll find out soon.”

“ _Mylène!_ ”

“Hey, it’s a good thing,” Mylène giggled. “They were just...talking about song inspirations.” She shrugged, but she was smiling. “You’re an inspirational girl. Luka really likes you, doesn’t he?”

“Luka? What? Me?” Her face grew hot, imagining her fairly new crush and the possibility he liked her back. ”He texted come to me over, I mean he wexted me to tatch, I mean...he texted me to watch.” She sighed. “So maybe…” she turned back to look. The band couldn’t hear them talk over all their music. But Luka looked up from the guitar and winked at her.

Marinette just about died.

“He’s really cute, Marinette,” Mylène told her with a nudge. “Ivan says he’s really cool, too.”

“Ivan’s right,” she sighed. “But, uh, so are all of them! Adrien, Rose, Juleka, Ivan...but I’m not interested in Ivan; he’s your boyfriend! Not that I’m interested in Rose or Juleka either….not that anything’s wrong with that, but they’re not...oh, and I’m not...not Adrien, or _maybe_ Adrien, so not Luka, or…um...”

Mylène laughed. “Hey, I’m your friend! I’m a part of Operation Secret Garden whenever you need me. No matter who the target is. You’re allowed to get new feelings for new people.”

Marinette relaxed. She was so confused about her emotions and feelings...they were both so nice to her, but nobody smiled at Marinette _as_ Marinette quite like Luka. Her heart hadn’t been so confused and conflicted since Adrien joined their class. Amongst the hormones, it was nice to have the stability of her friends’ support. “Thanks, Mylène.”

“Just don’t break up the band!” Mylène teased.

The music stopped and the group started chatting. They congratulated one another, gave comments on who needed to practice what, when they’d meet next (Marinette quickly took notes), and who should bring le goûter[2] for snacks.

Adrien folded up his keyboard and jogged over to Marinette. “Marinette! Hey!” he called, waving.

She spun around and when she found her footing, her heart kept spinning. “Oh, hey, Adrien!” Marinette quickly glanced behind her crush...no, her friend...no...well, _Adrien_ , and looked on to where Luka was. He was talking with his sister. So Marinette looked back at Adrien and smiled. “You sounded great today!”

He scratched the back of his neck and smiled. “Thanks. How’s your week been? You taking good advantage of summer vacation?”

“I am! I’m helping a lot in the boulangerie and making new designs. Lots of free time to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III- maybe we can play together some time!” Marinette paused for a moment. Wow. Wow! Did she just ask Adrien Agreste to hang out...without noticing it? Without stuttering?

Huh.

Adrien grinned. “Yeah, I’d love that! My dad is really packing early summer with photoshoots and piano, but I’m free…” he pulled out his phone to check, “next Thursday?”

Marinette beamed. She would get to hang out with Adrien! She wasn’t sure if she was more excited to be with the beautiful boy she had loved for over a year now...or actually hang out with her friend that was usually too busy to be around. “That sounds great! I’ll have Papa save some croissants so we can eat them warm. What ti-i-i-ohhh, hi, Luka!” Marinette’s face burned as she saw Luka behind Adrien.

His half-smile grew into a wide grin and Luka put his hand on Adrien’s shorter shoulder. “Hey, Marinette. Hey, Adrien. Sorry to interrupt. What are you guys chatting about?”

“Adrien wanted to strike Ultimate Mecha Play III. I-I mean, Play wanted to Ultimate Mecha Strike Adrien! I- I- mean…”

“Adrien wanted to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III?” Luka guessed, helpfully.

Marinette bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” Her eyes were completely transfixed on Luka’s own blue eyes. Ignoring the glances Adrien passed between the two of them. Lately, that was exactly how her heart had felt, too. Transfixed on Luka- his kindness, his interest in her Marinette side, his music, his newness...it allowed her to look past Adrien’s Adrien-ness and see what he’d be like as a friend, not a prize to be won. Just like she saw all her friends.

“Cool.”

“Cool!”

Adrien looked between the two of them. “Yeah...cool. So Mari, it looks like you’re, uh, busy now. I’ll text you about next Thursday, yeah?” Adrien asked, his voice a little less chipper than before.

“Totally, Adrien. That sounds great.” Her eyes went back to Luka, then back to Adrien.

“And maybe we’ll run into each other again before then!”

“Yeah, maybe!”

“Hopefully not in pajamas this time,” Adrien teased with a wink.

“What? OH!” Marinette flushed bright red again, hiding behind her hands. “Ohhhh,”. She would never live that down. Adrien thought it was so funny, Alya thought it was so romantic, and her own pajamas had tears from the fountain cement now. Even Luka had known about it, when she had to correct him that no, she was _not_ Adrien’s secret girlfriend. “That was so embarrassing.”

“I know,” Adrien laughed, “And pretty scary at the end. If it wasn’t for you and Ladybug both saving me, that day would have been a lot different. Probably not something we should repeat. Although I wouldn’t mind finishing a movie next time,” Adrien added.

Marinette was about to agree when Luka added, “Maybe we could all see one together.”

“That sounds cool, Luka,” Adrien paused to consider it, then smiled. “Anyway. Later, guys!” He waved to Marinette and Luka, then waved to the rest of the band and left the boat.

Luka pulled Marinette into his side and gave her a hug. “It’s cool how nice you are to all your friends, Marinette,” Luka commented.

“What, with Adrien?”

“Yeah! You can tell you’re real close. Adrien says you’re a good friend. I haven’t hung with him much outside of practice, but if you’re his friend, he’s gotta be cool.”

Blushing, Marinette answered, “Yeah, he’s pretty cool.” Luka thought her friends ‘gotta be cool’? Really?? “I bet you have cool friends, too!”

Luka laughed. “Well, sure! But they’re all in lycée[3]  with me. So they don’t hang with my little sister and our band. I like that you get along with everyone in the band. Anyway...want to get out of here? I know a real cool old music shop in Le Marais you should check out.”

“That sounds great. Let’s go.” She beamed at him. Frankly, Luka could have suggested they go to a slaughterhouse on the other side of the city and she would have said ‘that sounds great. Let’s go.’ Maybe it was because when she looked up at his face the sun was literally behind his head, but Luka just seemed to shine to Marinette.

They weren’t ten meters away when her phone beeped. She almost ignored it, but Luka said she should see who it was. It was Adrien: “Thanks for coming to practice! You’re awesome. How does 1 pm sound for UMS3 on Thursday?”

“Sounds good. You better practice, or get ready to get your butt kicked!” She was about to put her phone away, but it buzzed again right away. Adrien had replied already.

“Oh we’ll see about that! (You’ll probably kick my butt anyway. ;))”

Her heart caught in her throat at the winky-face. Until Luka literally pulled her attention away by grabbing her free hand. Now, her heart was practically choking her, it was so high in her throat. She put her phone away without replying and smiled up at Luka.

Her compass definitely was going crazy. But every time she felt it tug closer to Luka, the disorder of her heart started to clear the path for better understanding Adrien.

And what she understood today was that Adrien... nice, friendly, attractive Adrien with sandy hair and piercing green eyes and a mysterious father...was nowhere near as exciting as the mysterious older guitarist with dyed hair holding her hand today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Bisou: polite French greeting between friends- kissing the air next to their cheek
> 
> 2 Le goûter: "The snack", or snacktime. Usually specifically refers to 5 pm snack (like English teatime).
> 
> 3 Lycée: "Lycée" is school in France for kids ages 15-18, basically High School. "Collège" is school in France for kids ages 11-14, basically Junior High (or middle school).
> 
> \-----  
> Thank you to the support for this little story so far! It really starts to pick up steam next chapter. I'm excited to share that soon.


	3. Alya's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little closer to the length most of my chapters will be from here on out. You'll notice I'm not going to give hovertext or footnotes to French terms I explain in earlier chapters, but really, I try to make all the French work with context clues so it shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully that's not weirding any readers out.
> 
> Time has jumped from last chapter to this one by a few months. We're near the end of summer!

Adrien and Nino were sprawled on Nino’s carpet, laughing as Nino tossed chips into the air for them to catch and eat. The summer was coming to an end, a summer that had been full of modelling, band practice, saving Paris, and more time with friends than Adrien was normally used to.Nights like this were a chance for Nino and Adrien to catch up on all they’d done over the weeks. “-And so Alix just totally crushed the other dude’s face into the wall!”

“Ouch!” Adrien flinched. “Really?”

“Ah, he was fine. He had a helmet. But that’s what you get for messin’ with our girl Alix on the rink! She’ll make you lose a tooth or two.”

Adrien laughed. “Remember when Kim and her tried to roller derby? Man, Kim couldn’t walk right for a week.” They laughed together until Adrien got an alert on his phone. He rolled over to look at it- the Ladyblog updated. Adrien didn’t even know what was posted, but his face melted into a smile just imagining. There had been no Akuma attack today, no disaster where Ladybug needed his help..so it could be anything. Pics of Ladybug on a roof. Eating an ice cream cone. Ladybug climbing out of a pool. Ladybug from behind. Ladybug doing the splits in video. Helping baby kittens….

“You wanna check it out?” Nino asked with a smirk.

“Huh? What?”

Nino laughed and waved his phone. “Dude, Alya’s my girlfriend. I get the notifications, too. I know you don’t make that face thinking about _Alix_. Let’s see what she posted.”

“Oh,” Adrien blushed slightly, “I mean, if YOU want to…”

They got up in front of the computer, Nino clicking away from the home screen of their online game they had been playing earlier. He opened his internet browser and clicked the bookmark, giving Adrien a hard time about what HE probably had bookmarked.

“Shut up, everyone loves Ladybug. I’m not weird.”

“Not everyone loves her like you do. I swear, you look like she’s your girlfriend on your third date.”

 _I wish_ , thought Adrien as the site loaded. The new content wasn’t nearly as exciting or juicy as Adrien had imagined. Instead, Alya had posted a quiz to find out “Which Ladybug and Chat Noir villain are you most like?” (Nobody was surprised when Nino got “The Bubbler”. Adrien lied about so many of his answers, his test came back as “The Glaciator”...which Nino would not stop teasing him about.) After the quiz, she had a video post. They clicked play.

“Hey, Ladybug fans! Tomorrow is what? My birthdaaaay! And you better believe this bug is ready to par-tay. No promises whether or not Ladybug or Chat Noir will come to the party, but those two crazy kids are totally invited.” She winked at the camera, making Nino and Adrien laugh. “Anyway, since it’s my birthday, I’m asking a favor for all my fans. We don’t just love Ladybug and Chat Noir for their mystery, their acrobatics, their sexy costumes, and their quippy catchphrases. We love them for their heroism! They make Paris a safer, better place every day! So I’m asking everyone to be a little more like Ladybug tomorrow. Help out a friend or neighbor. Do something brave! Let’s encourage one another to share heroism. Use #LadyBlogHérosDuJour on all social media when you do a good deed or someone does it for you.  And don’t forget, this site doesn’t run on hits alone. My Paypal is right there,” she gestured to the side of the screen, “and birthday money doesn’t always have to come from my Mami[1]. Bisous à tous!”

The video ended with a flourish of music and the Ladyblog logo. Nino couldn’t stop grinning at the screen. “She’s gotten so good at those videos! And isn’t that _amazing_? Asking for everyone to be a good person for her birthday? So generous.” He smiled wide, leaning back into his chair.

“Hey, scoot over. I’ll donate.” He pushed the dreamy-eyed boyfriend to the side and clicked her Paypal, making a rather generous anonymous donation. The zeroes made Nino jump out of his stupor.

“Woah, dude! You wanna spread some of that generosity on your best friend over here?”

“I’m just supporting my favorite website. If you’re gonna give me shit over visiting it so often, I may as well help pay for the hosting.” Adrien smiled as he added a personalized note to the donation, ‘Hope to see more videos of Ladybug! This should help with the bandwidth.’ He almost typed a comment about catching one with her and Chat Noir kissing, but a few things stopped him. First, the sadness that said video might...never happen. And second- and most important- Nino was still watching.

“You’re one thirsty brother,” Nino laughed. “Why don’t you date a real girl? I mean, a girl at school? You know a superhero’s never going to actually date one of us.”

Adrien shrugged with a hand raised palm-up, leaning back in his chair. “Bof[2], I don’t know. I feel like I just barely figured out how to make friends, you know? Real friends, not just fans. Like Marinette: I’m pretty sure she’s just now getting over the whole ‘I’m a model’ thing. We’re actually having real conversations. It’s important to me that the girl I love...the girl I date I mean... is my friend, and that we can have a partnership. Someone to look up to, who trusts me, too.” He started thinking about Ladybug again, and quickly said, “But I don’t know who I’d date anyway. It’s not like I want to be with Chloé.”

“And most of the other girls we’re in class with are taken.”

“Yeah, they are.” He squinted. “How long has Marinette been dating Luka anyway?”

Nino raised an eyebrow. “So your mind went right to Marinette, I see…”

“Dude, she’s just a good friend. You know that!”

Nino looked at his best friend over his glasses. “Uh huh. Man, you helped me when I wanted to date her. I could help you out-”

“Not if she’s dating someone you can’t,” Adrien quickly argued. “I’m not about to try to hurt anyone’s feelings. I just realized...I never really noticed exactly when it happened.”

Grabbing a handful of chips, Nino shrugged. “I guess it started a month or two ago this summer. They’ve been crushing hard on each other since the Music Festival and started hanging out since about the same time. I know Alya knows when their first official date was- you want me to text her and ask?”

“No, I was just curious. We’ve been hanging out a lot more this summer than we did last year. It’s so awesome! Marinette really is super cool. It’s like...the more I act chill around her, the chiller she is, too. We’ve played Ultimate Mecha Strike III, rolled croissants with her and her dad one night, she let me model one of her designs, I even showed her a few fencing moves at my place once! And she’s so much better at talking to me, now that the celebrity has worn off. She’s funny, and clever, and always has nice things to say about everyone in class. But whenever I try to bring up Luka or talk about Kitty Section, she changes the topic.”

Nino looked at Adrien sympathetically...a look that made Adrien uncomfortable. “What? You’re looking at me like she killed my puppy.”

“You sure you’re okay with them dating?”

“Dude, I already said I’m fine. She’s just a good friend. She’s probably my best friend, after you. I couldn’t ever like her the way I love...not the point. You know I don’t have time to date anyway. I have fencing, school, Chinese, modelling, piano-”

“Hanging out with Marinette…”

“Yeah, hanging out with- hey! No, just _friends_. I have to have time for my friends. I don’t have the time to date. My life is complicated enough right now.”

Adrien grabbed his bottle of Orangina and took a sip. He hadn’t even mentioned saving the city nearly every day. Plus, he was spread so thin. There were four sides of Adrien he had to always keep in check: the Adrien his father saw (rarely, he admitted), the Adrien his friends saw, the Adrien his fans saw, and Chat Noir. Chat Noir, who allowed him to do everything Adrien couldn’t and say almost everything Adrien wanted to. Chat Noir, the person Adrien wanted to be, would have to be a complete secret to whomever Adrien dated. Unless he was dating Ladybug of course, but that ship had sailed. Was it fair for Adrien to date when he could only give half himself to a girl?

“I can’t spread myself that thin.”

“I think I get your obsession with Ladybug, then,” Nino said. “You think you can’t date. So if you convince yourself that the only person you want to date is her, and SHE can’t date you, suddenly you’re not the problem. It’s just...logistics.”

Sipping more of his orange soda, Adrien considered this. Was there truth in that? Maybe? “That’s deep, man.”

“I’m surprisingly brilliant sometimes, dude. Let’s bang out a few more rounds of the game before it gets too late. We can talk about your big crush on Ladybug later.”

\--

In the morning and after a filling breakfast of oranges, baguette, jam, and chocolate milk, the two boys got on the metro to go to the park. “So remind me how you convinced your old man to let you have a sleepover AND go to a party the next day?” Nino asked as the car jostled them underground.

“Now that Paris Fashion Week is over, he’s been in Milan for the past few days. Gets back Thursday night. It’s been great! Nathalie lets me see my friends way more than she does when Dad’s home. And I feel like Paris has been calmer, too. Less craziness. Which is good. In general. Not just for me.”

“Obviously, dude.” Nino gave Adrien a weird look. “Maybe Hawk Moth and all his crazy super villains are on vacation, too.”

“God, I hope so.”

The train pulled into the station near Les Jardins du Luxembourg and the boys joined the hustle of passengers getting out. They walked past the throng of tourists headed towards the picturesque lawn in front of the palace and instead went west, closer to the playground where locals brought their families, and off to the side that Alya had explained in her invitation. They quickly found Alya’s mom and her two twin sisters helping get tables ready for the picnic. Nino politely gave a hug and a bisou to each sister and his girlfriend’s mom. “So, where’s Alya?”

“She and Marinette are bringing lunch from her dad’s boulangerie. The girls and I will grab our lunch to go- I know Alya wanted to have a picnic with just her friends this time. We’ll catch up with her later. And these two,” she ruffled the hair of Etta and Ella, “are going swimming with her tomorrow, so they don’t mind that you’re borrowing her for the afternoon. They’re very excited.” Marlena Césaire turned from Nino to Adrien, who she saw much less often. “Hello, Adrien!”

“Hello, Madame Césaire !” Adrien greeted, “Thank you so much for letting us have a party for Alya!”

“You’re such a sweet young man,” Mme Césaire[3] said, giving Adrien a big hug. He sank into it easily. He would never, ever say it out loud, but he loved the chance to hug any friend’s mom. If he closed his eyes tight enough, he could just pretend…

The hug broke when Nino and Adrien heard the high-pitched delighted squeal of Rose. “Adrien! Nino! Hi, guys!” Rose skipped over, Juleka and her brother slowly walking after her. “So good to see you!”

“Hey, Rose. Juleka. Luka, hey! I didn’t know you were friends with Alya,” Adrien said. He liked seeing Luka- the guy was nice. He was friendly to Adrien, and always made sure he was included in the band. They just never really saw each other off of The Liberty.

Luka half-smiled back. “She’s a friend, yeah. Mostly here because Marinette invited me, so I came with these two.”

“Oh, Marinette invited you? That’s so nice. She’s Alya’s best friend after all, so I guess she can invite whoever she wants. Alya invited me, not Marinette,” Adrien rambled.

“Cool.”

No one seemed to notice or care how awkwardly Adrien had replied- instead, Rose, Juleka, Luka, and Nino were chatting about a movie they wanted to see. Adrien saw Mme Césaire fumbling with the picnic blanket and went to help her and clear his head. Why did he care WHY Luka was here? Why did it suddenly seem like he shouldn’t be allowed, just because Alya didn’t invite him herself? It wasn’t like their friend group had ever been exclusive before.

\---

The picnic party felt longer than normal. They had shared sandwiches and plenty of pastries for dessert. The group talked about music, soccer, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and everything else teenagers talk about. Nino played his music in the background- a special mix for Alya’s birthday. When Clara Nightingale’s “Miraculous” came on, everyone jumped up to dance and didn’t sit back down. It should have felt like a normal day, but Adrien kept noticing how...odd he made it. As in, literally an odd number.

It was especially hard when Nino’s songs switched to Alya’s favorite Jagged Stone slow song and everyone coupled off to dance. There was Nino and Alya, of course. Rose and Juleka. And Marinette and Luka. Adrien was excited to hear more people were almost there...until he heard it was Mylène and Ivan. Since when was EVERYONE in collège dating someone else? He had never hoped more that Max, or Alix, or even Sabrina and Chloé would show up. Someone to make him feel less like the only loser person without a partner.

He tried not to make a scene, cutting some cheese for himself and the little gourmand[4] in his pocket. That was when he heard Marinette behind him.

“You okay, Adrien?” She asked, “You look a little… um, a little down.”

Adrien smiled at her as strongly as he could. She deserved a smile! Marinette was nothing but kind to him! “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m excited about Alya’s birthday! I saw her video on the Ladyblog last night. I hope a lot of people do acts of service today.”

Beaming so brightly that it made Adrien’s heart skip a beat, Marinette agreed. “Oh, me too!! I hope Ladybug sends her a birthday message. Alya’s such a cool person, using her platform for good and to encourage good in the world. That’s what Ladybug and Chat Noir really need- support in kindness. Oh, Adrien, guess what she told me?! Last night, she started getting some donations. Most were normal. 5 euros, 10 euros, one or two 25 euros. But guess what? One of them was _six hundred euros_.”

Adrien tried to mock surprise. “Whaaat? That’s so much! Who do you think would give that much?!”

“I don’t know! She called me in the middle of the night right when it happened. She’s so excited...apparently, the person said it was so she could host videos. They must be a super huge Ladybug fan.”

“Hmm, a super huge Ladybug fan. The biggest Ladybug fan I know is Chat Noir. Maybe it was him!”

He had meant it as a bit of a joke, and a way to make sure Marinette didn’t start suspecting the rich boy standing right in front of her, but Marinette narrowed her eyes. “That _sounds_ like something Chat Noir would do. But he would have added some cheeky comment, like ‘I hope you catch Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing’, or ‘post more pawsome content of my lady and her kitty’ or something like that.”

“Hah hah hah, heh heh, you’re probably right,” Adrien forced, avoiding her eyes. How on earth did Marinette know Chat Noir so well? Was he really that obvious to the public? But Marinette didn’t seem worried about Adrien’s fake laugh- she was staring just off to the side, thinking hard. Maybe his attempt to get the spotlight off of himself...actually brought it CLOSER to himself. “But where would Chat Noir get the money, anyway?”

“Well, I don’t-...we don’t know anything about Chat Noir. Maybe he _is_ filthy rich! Hmm, but then again...probably not.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t get the feeling he is. He’s too much of a good person. Can you imagine someone as rich as, say, Chloé trying to save Paris? He’d just hire someone else to do it for him, I bet!”

“So...you think to be rich you’d also be lazy?” Adrien asked, the hurt showing in his voice.

Marinette’s eyes dilated and she jumped in place, panicked as she realized what she said. “No, I...uh...oh gosh, Adrien. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I forget that good people like you can also be rich. The people I normally think of...Chloé, Jagged Stone...they remind you every chance they can that they have more money and more power than you. Chloé put some of her pocket lint in my end of the year memory book last year and said that it was worth more than anything I ever have in my pockets.”

“She did? That’s awful!”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. You’re not like that. Not at all. You actually HAVE emotions. You know what? I actually came over here because you looked sad and this whole conversation distracted me. Are you okay?”

Adrien had been so wrapped up in Marinette’s sparkling eyes and animated smile, not to mention defending his honor and secrecy as both Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir, that he had forgot how lonely he had felt before. With Luka missing momentarily (he wasn’t about to ask why and have her change the topic anyway), Marinette made him forget how alone in the world Adrien felt. So he made something up. “Just...uh...thinking about my Dad. He’s in Milan, and he didn’t really say goodbye before he left.”

Marinette put a hand on his shoulder. It tingled. “Oh, Adrien. I’m so sorry. Your dad….he sure is complicated, isn’t he?”

“You can say that again.” Adrien looked at her face and could see a million questions behind them. He was pretty sure half of them were about himself, but the other half probably had to do with why Gabriel Agreste was in Milan.

“Do you want to see some of the designs he’s having made while he’s there?”

“OhmygodyesIdocanIplease?” she gushed.

Adrien laughed. He pulled out his phone to flip through the photos he’d taken without Gabriel noticing- Adrien had figured Marinette would like them. As she ooh’d and ahh’d, the world started to disappear around them. The music was just in the background, the heat of the summer day was their warm bubble. He had his friend back, and this warm feeling of support and compassion was what his friendship with Marinette meant. He really was lucky to have her.

Until he didn’t have her anymore. Luka’s voice cut through their warm, pink cloud like a bucket of cold water. “Hey, babe.” _Babe_ ? Marinette wasn’t a _babe_. “I got you more sunscreen while I was getting the you-know-what.”

“Oh, that’s so thoughtful!” Marinette said, looking up from her phone. “Adrien, thank you so much. I really should reapply, though. I turn red so fast in the sun. Could you show me the rest when I’m done?”

“Yeah, totally,” he said. Marinette squeezed Adrien’s arm again, then walked off. As she walked, she looked behind at him with a huge smile until she sat down. Luka poured the sunscreen into his own hand and...Adrien decided he didn’t need to watch the next part.

Luckily the song had long shifted into something fast-paced, currently playing Gregoire’s hit “Toi + Moi”, so he could go join his friends without feeling like a seventh wheel. It offered plenty of opportunities for pointing at one another and singing at the top of their lungs.

Even better, more of Alya’s friends had shown up. Mylène and Ivan, Max, Kim, and Alix. Max had even brought Markov! Adrien started to really let loose, dancing and laughing with all his friends. With the addition of more classmates (specifically the three unattached additions, as Kim came without his girlfriend), the dance party felt much more like an opportunity to be free and have fun. It felt like the kind of party Alya loved. Anyone could tell, with the way she was laughing and screeching along to every song. Adrien got the chance to dance with Alya herself during Nino’s gratuitous 80’s throwback, “Quand la Musique est Bonne”. They laughed, they air-guitared, they acted like fifteen and sixteen year olds having the summer of their lives. [5]

After a handful more songs of dancing, it was time for presents. Alya was a gracious recipient, dramatically opening each one and thanking everyone individually. She gave Adrien a huge hug and quick bisou for the expensive new sneakers he had bought her, thrilled that he had gotten the size right and the color just perfect. She gave Nino an even bigger hug and kissed him after opening his personalized scrapbook gift, filled with pictures from the past school year and designed to look like the cage they’d been trapped in at the zoo when they first got together. Adrien was stealing peeks at Marinette and could tell from her grin that she had something to do with the scrapbook’s beautiful design and cover art.

Marinette’s present was Adrien’s favorite…not that it mattered! It was Alya’s gift, not his! It was a beautiful hand-sewn bag, designed to look like Ladybug’s mask. Instead of her heaven-blue eyes, the mask had blacked-out eye holes that Marinette pointed out doubled as pockets. It had a pretty gold chain as a shoulder strap and a clear pocket where her phone could sit. Marinette explained that this way, if Alya really wanted to, she could have her phone’s camera running from the bag _without_ holding it in front of her face.

Adrien chuckled as he imagined Alya running around trying to both escape an Akuma and film the fight. It wouldn’t be the first time. And somehow, despite Marinette trying to protect her friend, he doubted she would let the video quality suffer by being bounced around in her bag.

Alya gave her best friend a hug and bisou and was about to start opening more gifts when Adrien asked if he could look at the mask bag. Nino choked down a laugh and Marinette started to blush. But Alya let him look...not without bragging about Marinette’s handiwork first, to much protesting of “Alyaaaaa!”

Holding it in his hands, the bag was even more amazing. Somehow, Marinette had not only gotten the colors exactly right, but even the texture. Adrien had held onto Ladybug’s hand, waist, arms, and legs enough to know how the soft and firm webbing of her suit felt. She had mimicked it by stitching in a silver texture over the red and black, and the bag was made out of a material that felt more waterproof and strong, like her real suit, than regular fabric. Maybe neoprene? When Adrien stroked his thumb over the side of the mask, it almost felt like he was stroking His Lady’s face.

“Adrien,” Nino said quietly, pulling him out of his daydream. “You want us to leave you and Alya’s purse for some alone time?”

“Oh, shut up. I was just...admiring the quality.” He handed it out to Marinette. “You’re really talented.”

“Thanks...but you should give that back to Alya, not me,” Marinette replied, blushing even more.

“Oh, oops,” Adrien said sheepishly, correcting his mistake.

“She _is_ really talented,” Luka agreed proudly, kissing Marinette’s head. She buried her face in her hands, so Adrien looked away. Luka, Adrien noted bitterly to himself, had only gotten Alya a gift card. And he was willing to place a bet that it was from the same Monoprix where he bought the last-minute sunscreen.

Not that it mattered. Marinette had chose to date Luka, and not… well. Not that it mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1Mami: Affectionate term for Grandmother (like Grandma).
> 
> 2 Bof: "Le Bof" is a particularly French shrug where your shoulders raise, your arms bend upwards at the elbow with palms facing up. It's the "Guess I'll Die" old man meme! To say "Bof", it's basically like a "well" or another extender, typically meaning or accompanying "I don't know" or "I don't care".
> 
> 3Mme: Abbreviation for "Madame". I'll use these a lot, so the rest are as follows: Mlle- Mademoiselle. M.-Monsieur
> 
> 4gourmand: One who loves for love of eating. Our closest English would be "glutton". The related noun would be "Gourmet", which means one who eats for love of good food, but does not overeat. (I guess the closest English for that is "foodie"?)
> 
> 5Real life songs mentioned at Alya's party:  
> ["Toi + Moi"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B083_AiXTU) and ["Quand la Musique est Bonne"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-boDeijWuOY).  
> These are classics and absolute bangers. They're older (2008 for "Toi + Moi" and 1981 for "Quand la Musique est Bonne") but everybody sang them and included them in playlists and school presentations when I was in France. They are way too fun to dance to for Nino to NOT put them in a playlist.


	4. Surrounded by People, all Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get an insight into Marinette's feelings in this chapter! I've got mixed feelings about this one, but it is very important to our girl's mindset.

Well into late afternoon, Alya’s party was still going strong. Marinette was thankful, yet again, that this week had been relatively quiet and calm in Paris. Not one peep from Hawk Moth. Maybe, for once, she could enjoy an entire party without having to save Paris.

After presents, Nino played more of Alya’s playlist. There was more dancing and singing together, laughing loud as they tried desperately to sing along to the American songs on the playlist, no clue what they were saying half the time. Everyone caught up with each other, Kim almost puked after trying to out-chug Alix in their orange juice drinking contest, and Marinette made an absolute fool of herself during charades. Thankfully for her, not quite as big of a fool as Nino trying to act out “hide and seek” using the bushes in the park.

When the last of the chips had been eaten, a few party guests started to leave while the rest settled on the grass. The sun bathed them all in warmth and sloth, contrasted by the tourist families rushing past, trying to enjoy as much of Paris as possible. The teenages stretched out together, talking. Marinette was sitting against Luka’s warm body, talking with the group. Alya laid in the middle wearing the hot-pink “Birthday Girl” tiara Rose had gifted her. Her head was on Nino’s lap, who sat next to Adrien. Others were sprawled on their chests or sitting cross-legged as they enjoyed their discussion about their hopes and fears for the next year. 

Some were afraid of new teachers, others afraid of an akuma attack. Juleka was excited to visit a new store opening in their arrondissement, while Ivan was excited to get a new baby sister. The heaviest it got was when Rose admitted that she was most afraid of being akumatized again. Very seriously, everyone agreed. They recalled how it felt, including what they  _ couldn’t _ feel while under the mind control. Everyone’s experience had similarities, but every experience was profoundly unique and painful for the teenagers.

Marinette enjoyed listening to the other side of an akuma attack. Most victims did not want to discuss what it was like with someone as supposedly unaffected as Marinette, but in this friend group, she, Luka, and Adrien were the only ones to never experience the akuma mind-control. The three of them just stayed quiet and let the friends express themselves. As she considered the boys, Marinette felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude that they had so far been spared. She hoped they always would. As for herself, Marinette didn’t know if it was possible for her to be akumatized with Tikki around and feared what would happen if it could be her. How could she cleanse her own akuma…? That might be a question for Master Fu.

While Marinette was thinking about herself, the conversation had become even deeper for the victims. Mylène’s voice shook as she remembered turning into a monster, becoming even more emotional when she quietly recalled how Ivan had been there, and how Ladybug and Chat Noir never had made her feel like a monster. Nino agreed, mentioning how reassuring it was to see Ladybug and Chat Noir at his side when he came to. They all followed in turn. 

Alix, normally not one to express deep feelings, surprised Marinette the most when she spoke. “I always see Ladybug and Chat Noir around Paris and feel safe. Sometimes, I see them before I even know anything bad is happening...and when I see them, I know whatever it is, it won’t last long. Becoming Chronogirl was...super uncool. I was scared for the people I froze. Shut up, I’m grown enough to admit it. It was fuckin’ scary! But man...the thing that scared me most was...myself. Specifically losing myself.” Everyone nodded in agreement. 

She continued, “After I woke up, I didn’t know what had happened and I didn’t know if I’d ever be okay. I was fuzzy, my memory was fuzzy, and I was scared. But I saw Ladybug, I saw she fixed me and she fixed my watch and I knew- I knew whatever was happening to me, whatever had just happened, it wouldn’t last long. I knew I was safe.”

Marinette could no longer hold the tears back. Her vision was blurred and her nose sniffled. As quietly as possible, she snuck off to blow her nose. Nobody paid her any mind. They were all focused on Alix, then on Alya, as she said “Damn, girl. Can I quote you for the Ladyblog?”

The group laughed and immediately, the mood lightened. But Marinette was too emotional to join in their chatter about a possible article for the Ladyblog. She excused herself all the way to a nearby bunch of trees and let out a sob. In the privacy of the grove, Tikki flew out from Marinette’s purse.

“Marinette! Are you okay?” Tikki asked. Marinette nodded, wiping her eyes. “Your friends were saying such nice things. You shouldn’t cry!” Tikki fluttered up to wipe more tears off of Marinette’s face. “They love you so much.”

“They love Ladybug,” Marinette corrected. “And- and I  _ knew _ that. I knew that. But I never really...realized...I don’t get to hear this stuff. Ladybug doesn’t. She has to leave right after a fight, she doesn’t talk to friends, she doesn’t get fanmail…”

“You would if you gave them a mailbox. Or an email address!” Tikki said. “You would get so much fanmail. Everyone loves you! And I love you, too.”

Marinette giggled. She put a hand out and Tikki hugged her thumb. “Yeah, I would. But it’s not the same. I can’t tell my friends how much of their pain I understand, or that they’re talking about me when they talk about Ladybug. It’s so...so lonely.”

Tikki sighed, looking up at Marinette with a smile. “Yes, it is. Ladybug and Chat Noir must keep their identities a secret. It makes it one of the loneliest jobs. At least you have Chat Noir!”

“Chat Noir can’t talk to Marinette about this kind of stuff.”

“About your fans loving you? Sure he can!”

“No, about rescuing your  _ friends _ . About seeing your best friend turn into a terrifying monster. About having to fight and hurt your best friend, and they never know that you’re the one who saved them. I can’t tell Chat that I know any of these people...I can’t tell him that class never, ever feels the same after I’ve attacked them. I can’t tell him how alone Marinette feels. He doesn’t know who Marinette is- not that we’re the same person! Marinette’s just another damsel in distress he’s saved,” she said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes.

Tikki frowned again. Always looking for solutions, she said, “No...but  _ I _ know! And Master Fu knows!”

Marinette snorted. She quickly apologized. “Sorry, Tikki. I just can’t imagine telling Master Fu about this kind of stuff. What if Luka gets akumatized next? What if I have to fight my boyfriend?? I can’t talk to Master Fu about that. He’s...it’s not the same.”

“Because he’s not your friend?”

“More because he’s old,” Marinette confessed.

Tikki rolled her eyes. “He’s hardly two centuries older than you. That’s nothing!”

Marinette squeezed Tikki’s teeny tiny cheek. “Maybe to you, you dinosaur!” She didn’t say it out loud, but Tikki had just perfectly exemplified why Marinette felt so alone. Tikki could never really understand how important the ten seconds between a fight and transforming back to Marinette could be to the young girl, when to Tikki, Marinette’s entire lifetime probably felt like ten seconds. She looked at the wind teasing the leaves of the trees above her. Marinette stayed silent for awhile, willing herself not to cry over loneliness when Tikki was literally curled against her neck. “I do feel very loved, though,” she finally said out loud both to herself and Tikki.

“As you should, Marinette. Your friends love you a lot. Marinette  _ and _ Ladybug.”

_ Just not at the same time _ , Marinette thought. “They do. So I should go back.” As Marinette stood up to walk back to the group, she noticed they had all started standing. It seemed like people were going to go their own ways and the party had finally ended. In fact, some friends had already left before Marinette even rejoined the group.

Marinette ran up to Alya, rehashing their plans together. Marinette was due to help her parents close up the boulangerie, proof the pastries for the morning, and “do her chores”. (Her chores, little did her parents know, included a quick patrol of Paris’s seedy side.) Then, she’d go to Alya’s for dinner and a birthday sleepover. She gave her best friend birthday bisous, then found Luka. They planned to walk home together. 

She waved goodbye to Nino and Adrien, kindly helping clean up the park. “Ready to go, Sourisette?” Luka asked, using his ‘little mouse’ nickname.

“Of course, monsieur!” She joined her hand in his and beamed. This should be a good way to get her mind off of her worries and focus instead on her charming boyfriend.

Luka was Marinette’s first boyfriend. They’d been dating officially for two months, a week and four days at this point. After the music festival, she’d made excuses to visit Juleka at first, but by the second time visiting The Liberty, Luka was the one inviting her over and taking her on walks to find the best street musicians in Paris. They had bonded over Jagged Stone, over Luka’s musical ear, and over Marinette’s tendency to trip into Luka’s arms. Only most of which were accidental.

She’d experienced boys crushing on her before, of course. But this was the first time it was really welcomed. After all, finding out a classmate likes you that isn’t exactly on your radar is significantly different than having your friend’s older, attractive, mysterious, generous, kind, and  _ older _ brother flirt with you.

Marinette had spent almost two years pining after one boy. She didn’t even know her heart  _ could  _ make room for someone else...but it had. Lightning struck the moment he smiled at her, and she fell head over heels the moment he apologized for stuttering, continuing her fall with a grand flourishing final leap at the moment he told  _ Ladybug _ , the superheroine of Paris, that  _ Marinette _ was the brave one… At that moment, she was sold on all things Luka Couffaine.

When Adrien joined Kitty Section and she got to watch the two of them side-by-side, it had been a hormonal battle like nothing she’d ever experienced. Adrien was always kind to Marinette, the way he was kind to all his friends. Luka singled her out and made her feel special and seen. Luka invited her places one-on-one and never once had to stay home to practice piano, or fencing, or go to Chinese lessons. Luka’s schedule couldn’t be tracked on a spreadsheet, and it seemed permanently flexible. He’d even left a dentist appointment early when she asked to hang out. 

And Luka was experienced. He often told her stories about his life- the 19 month gap between the two of them seemed like a lifetime. As they walked hand in hand from the park and slowly towards Marinette’s arrondissement, he told her more of these stories. Writing songs by the light of the Eiffel tower. Exploring the chateaux of Central-Pays with an ex boyfriend and their friends with nothing but backpacks. The time his family went sailing down the Seine all the way to the English Channel and back. All about what lycée was going to be like for her.

She listened with glittering blue eyes and open ears. True, if she told him about Ladybug’s adventures, his stories would pale in comparison and Luka would realize that Marinette already knew what the “adrenaline of falling 30 meters into a pool of cool blue water” felt like. Except she’d fallen higher. Without the water. But anyway, Luka preferred Marinette, the simple baker’s daughter who could sew any pattern you gave her but couldn’t always walk in a straight line.

They discussed favorite movies, weird dreams, and what languages they wanted to learn. Luka spoke very good English already and Marinette just melted when he complimented her in their shared foreign language. With her three years of English she knew enough to know he was very charming. 

“All the rock stars come from England or Los Angeles,” Luka complained as they walked home from the gardens and Alya's party. “One day, we’ll take The Liberty blaring music across the channel. My YouTube followers will be the first ones there, but all of England will come to listen. We’ll have great acoustics as we arrive at the Cliffs of Dover. We’ll weigh anchor, I’ll come off the boat, and from then on, England will be my new home. Don’t worry, I’ll come back to France and Paris of course, especially on tour. But I need to be where the music gets made.”

“You and Kitty Section?” Marinette asked. She tried to imagine Adrien in London as a rock star. Rose wearing a black bowler hat and saying things like ‘Cheerio!’.

“Euh, maybe. Kitty Section is really fun, you know? It’s fun. But it’s more Juleka’s band than...mine.” He shrugged. “I’m in three bands, you know that. With Juleka’s friends, with my lycée  friends, and the one that’s...just me. And Maman’s my manager. I can’t go professional with all three.”

“Oh, right.” 

“What do you want to do after you graduate?”

“I want to be in the fashion industry,” Marinette said. “I’d love to work for the House of Agreste.”

“Why settle for working for the man, Marinette? You could be your own brand. The House of Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette blushed. “Not to start out, I can’t.”

“Alright...so if you did just get a job with Agreste, that means you’d have to stay in Paris.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Marinette said with a nervous smile. 

“Don’t you want adventure?”

_ I get plenty of that without leaving the city, _ Marinette thought. She eventually settled on answering, “I love Paris. I feel like I need it. And it-”  _ needs me _ , she thought, “inspires me”, she said instead.

Luka was quiet for a moment. He seemed like he was trying to decide how to respond to that. Finally, he spoke up again. “What do you love about Paris the most?”

“The Parisians,” Marinette said without even thinking. She would, and had, done anything to keep them safe and happy. She saw how they would shelter their loved ones and rally around akumatized victims...they were a tapestry of 2.25 million different colors of threads, each thread with its own lives and hopes and fears, and Ladybug loved them all. “And I love the fashion, the food, the history, the music. I love the Eiffel Tower, the tin rooftops, the soaring Cathedrals, the lights…” her eyes glittered as she started thinking about the city from above. 

It was one thing to walk along the old, stone streets and next to the grand buildings and statues as she did now. It was another thing to see it as you flew above the sky. Sometimes, when there were no villains to fight, she would just zip around town. She told Chat it was purely business and just a patrol, but Marinette loved to see the city in peace. Everything looked smaller from above, but it was being above that showed her it was all so big.

Luka chuckled behind his hand into the silence between their conversation. “What are you thinking about, sourisette?”

Marinette blushed. “Nothing,” she lied.

“Oh, that smile isn’t for nothing! Go on, tell me.”

She looked at him and shrugged. “I just love Paris.”

“Aww, hit me with your poetry. What are you thinking about?”

What was she supposed to say? The tourists view on top of the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower weren’t at all what she meant. She couldn’t share this with Luka. “Just...Paris. It’s my home.”

“Alright, fine. I get that. A lot of people call it home. But why not explore somewhere else? You can’t know your true love until you’ve kissed more than once.”

At that expression, Marinette flushed bright red. But she understood what he meant behind his words. And she couldn’t tell him the answer- that she was terrified the day she left Paris could be the day an akuma terrorized the city and went unchecked.

“I...will. Maybe one day.”

“Why are you so hesitant? I could take you somewhere. Maman wouldn’t mind. Juleka gets to bring Rose on our adventures all the time.”

“I’m not ready.”

“To go on a vacation with me, or to leave Paris?”

Marinette didn’t answer. She said the phrase she had to use a lot with Luka, “Let’s change the subject.”

He groaned. But obliged. “Okay.” He looked around for inspiration. They passed a hot-pink Boulangerie, one Marinette had seen before and considered very tacky. “Here’s a question. You always say you’re helping your parents at the boulangerie….and you help them a lot!”

“Yeah…” Marinette didn’t like where this was going.

“But when I’ve visited and you say you’re there helping, sometimes you are, but sometimes you’re, y’know, not. Your papa usually says you’re doing homework, and sometimes you’re there, but…” Luka sighed, trying not to sound accusatory. “Where do you sneak off to?”

“I...don’t sneak off!” Marinette squealed.

“Then why do your parents think you’re home when you’re not?”

“How many times has this happened? That you’ve visited and I’m not there??”

Luka shrugged. “That you’re not there at all? It’s, uh...twice.”

“And  _ what did you tell my parents?” _ Marinette couldn’t hide the panic in her voice now. Luka’s eyes grew wide at her reaction.

“Wow, Sourisette, calm down. It’s all cool. I didn’t tell them- I just hung around like 15 minutes, then said thanks and left. I get needing some time away. I get sneaking out. I’m not going to snitch on you to your old man.”

She exhaled in relief. Her shoulders dropped and she let go of the tight grip she’d had on her purse. But this physical reaction just got more of Luka’s curiosity.

“Marinette, you can tell me. Where are you going?”

“I’m not...you probably just didn’t see me on the balcony!”

Luka looked over at Marinette, using a finger to pull down the skin in front of one of his eyes. “Oh, mon oeil,” he said in disbelief.[1]

“Really!” 

“Marinette…” Luka sighed. “Really? On the balcony? That’s what you’re going with?”

“....yes?”

“I’ve snuck out hundreds of times. I listen to bands and visit my friends, or just walk the streets of Paris. It’s no big deal to me. Why won’t you-”

“Fine, okay, I was visiting Alya.”  _ I’ve got to make up more than just three lies, _ Marinette scolded herself. She didn’t like that she was planning how to lie to her boyfriend, but apparently that’s what having a boyfriend and a secret identity at the same time would be like.

Still, Luka seemed unconvinced and unsatisfied. He looked away from Marinette and at the decorative fountain they were passing. They’d entered Marinette’s arrondissement, but still had quite a few blocks before they even crossed Rue Gotlib, where Marinette lived.

“So, uh, did you hear about the alligator akuma-guy in the Seine last week?”

Marinette cringed. “Illegator” had been a painful fight. He’d bit Marinette’s foot. And sure, Chat Noir had whacked him hard on the head and used a few choice puns, then tried to nurse Ladybug’s foot to health...but it still hurt! Even after they cleansed the city, it had throbbed for days. Chat told her to be grateful the bone healed immediately and didn’t stay broken.

And she was grateful. Marinette was clumsy, so it would have been easy to explain to her friends and family why she had a broken foot, but the citizens of Paris?  _ Sorry guys, you’ll have to fend for yourself while I put my foot up and watch American sitcoms! _ “Yeah, I heard about him. Was he anywhere near your home?”

“Naw, but I saw the fight go down with Chat Noir and Ladybug. Chat Noir was hitting it with his magic wand-”[2]

“-Baton”

“Wha...okay, hitting it with his baton like the little girl in Monsters Inc on the back of the purple monster.”

Marinette imagined the scene he was talking about and started to laugh, imagining her kitten hitting the Illegator and imagining the Illegator flashing different colors and patterns. “That’s funny!”

Luka grinned at her. “Yeah, and after Ladybug got bit, she just kind of yo-yo’d up to a lamppost and sat there, yelling at her boyfriend, telling him what to do.” He laughed lightly. “She looked like the Seine’s lifeguard, blowing the whistle. ‘Don’t run!’”

Marinette’s smile slowly faded. “But she got hurt. I’m sure that wasn’t funny when she got hurt.”

Luka caught her eye, “No, no that’s not what I mean. Of course that’s not funny, but...I mean, she’s  _ okay _ . They won the fight and she, I mean, she’s probably lecturing some primary school bully right now.”

“She’s okay, but I bet she was scared. Ladybug doesn’t get hurt that often, and the Illegator had a huge, huge mouth. She could have been eaten! And if she stayed to help Chat in the water, I bet she would have! Chat doesn’t think- I mean, she was just doing the best she could to stay safe and save Paris. What if they had let the Illegator get closer to your part of the river? That wouldn’t have been as funny.”

“Hey, hey, chill. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you so mad.” Luka reached out for Marinette’s hands. She was walking faster, so by grabbing her hands, he forced her to slow down and look at him. “I care about Ladybug and Chat Noir, too. They’ve saved your lives! They saved my maman! I’m not saying it’s funny when they’re in danger. It’s just...hard to take them seriously, sometimes. After Ladybug throws the thing in the sky, everything goes back to normal. It always does. The alligator man disappeared and was just a pissed-off dude again. It happens every time. With my mom, with my sister, with my friends...everything just goes back to normal. I wasn’t worried about Ladybug because, well, it’s like...she’s not gonna  _ die _ . It all just goes back to normal after.”

“You don’t know, Luka,” Marinette said quietly. She kept a hand in his, but kept walking. “You haven’t been akumatized. And I really hope you never will. You heard our friends. You heard your sister! That stuff messes you up. It doesn’t feel okay when it’s happening. It’s so-” Marinette stopped herself. This was a conversation they couldn’t have. Not just because Luka hadn’t experienced it, but because…

“Well, to be fair, you haven’t been akumatized, either,” Luka muttered.

Yep, that was why.

“But Ladybug and Chat Noir have saved me before, and they sure don’t look like they’re laughing.”

“Really?  _ Chat Noir _ doesn’t look like he’s laughing? The dude cracks joke after joke. He’s part of the reason I can’t take it seriously, Marinette.”

“And you don’t think maybe he makes jokes because he’s scared? Or maybe as part of an intimidation technique?”

“Hey girl, easy now. You’re getting all riled up again.” Luka put a hand up, as if to ease Marinette like a nervous horse. “Sorry. I just don’t get why you’re so...protective over this stuff.”

“I guess Alya rubs off on me,” Marinette grumbled. That lie would have to work. She didn’t want to have this conversation anymore.

Days like this reminded her how bittersweet it was to date Luka. He liked Marinette a lot as a person and in many personal ways. He liked Ladybug the way you might like a firefighter or a kind security guard at the mall. Which, unfortunately, meant he only tolerated half of what Marinette herself.

He only tolerated the half that was helping Marinette to grow more confident, strong, and empathetic.

He dated the half that had many friends and told stories and had a happy life. And that was great! Marinette loved dating Luka!

But he only tolerated the half that felt the most alone.

The two continued their walk almost quietly. Occasionally, they would talk about shallow things like Jagged Stone and the weather. As the T&S boulangerie-patisserie arrived above their heads, Marinette kissed Luka chastely on the lips. She walked into her home and watched Luka head towards the metro. 

Marinette, not just Ladybug but all of her, felt a lot less confident and a lot more alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "Mon Oeil": this is an expression and gesture where you pull down the skin to reveal your eye. "Mon oeil" literally translates to "my eye", similar to the English expression, "my foot", and is used to express disbelief, usually exasperated disbelief. Sometimes French will just do the gesture without also saying "mon oeil" (or the other way around).
> 
> 2 Magic Wand: In French, "magic wand" would translate to "baguette magique"...yes, "Magic Baguette", yes like the bread. Most French people seem aware how ridiculous that is, so Luka calling Chat's baton a "Magic Wand" is doubly weird for Marinette to hear- maybe even a little bit disrespectful and ridiculous.


	5. On the Rooftop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so grateful for the response to last chapter and the thought-provoking discussions! Marinette's headspace is a fun (if tricky) place to write and I'm so glad you seem excited about where I'm going with her. This idea of Marinette's desire to be seen on all sides and her struggle with keeping secrets is super important to our story. 
> 
> As deep as that is... I have to admit, I just really enjoy today's (fun!) chapter. We are finally getting what I've been starving for...fluuuuuufffff.

Chat Noir perched on all fours on top of a tin roof next to the Louvre pyramid. It was just past sunset, but still quite late as the summer sun had wanted to stay up as long as it could. Adrien didn’t blame it; he had had a great day, too. After Alya’s awesome party, he had appeased Nathalie and practiced his piano and Chinese. No harsh remarks from his father, no homework, no akuma attack, and no annoyance from Chloé. She was in Nice this time of year and her texting dropped from constant to occasional check-ins. It was much easier to be her friend from a distance. Best of all, he heard and then saw a red and black yo-yo wrap itself around a nearby chimney. His lady was seconds away!

And there she was, in all her glory. The Miraculous Ladybug. “How nice of you to flutter over!” Chat exclaimed.

Ladybug grimaced at him. “Not your best, Chat Noir.”

“I know, I know,” he sighed, “but I have to try my new material out somehow. Long time no see, my lady.”

“Please, I saw you yesterday night!” Ladybug was smiling and Chat was sure his heart would just beat out of his chest.

“Yeah, but can’t a kitty be lonely?”

Her smile faded. It looked like she was remembering something, or thinking of something. “Yes. You can. But hey, Chat- before we start our patrol, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“Anything for you, buginette,” Chat purred, slinking closer. He bit back his first thought, which was to offer a kiss. Unfortunately Chat was well aware Ladybug had feelings for Some Other Boy. He was doing the best he could to not break his own heart with constant rejection...but that didn’t mean his sense of humor had completely changed.

“Have you seen the Ladyblog today?”

Chat paused. Yes. Yes he had. “Is the favor to look at beautiful pictures of ourselves? Because that’s hardly a favor.”

“No,” Ladybug giggled. “No, I’ve just been watching the hashtag that the blogger, Alya, set up.”

“Oh, yeah! #LadyBlogHérosDuJour. For her birthday, right? I posted to that!”

Ladybug jumped back in surprise. “You did? Like...civilian you??”

Chat could kick himself! Why had he said that?! Like any cat who falls, he desperately tried to land on his feet. “Anonymously, of course. You can’t see who it is. Although I know you want to, Ladybug.”

She relaxed. “Oh. Well that’s really sweet, Chat!” Ladybug smiled again and repeated, “that’s really sweet. I think the whole hashtag is sweet, actually. There’s a lot of people using it! I think it’s great that Alya is encouraging such good things for Paris-“

“And in our names!”

“-Yes, that too. So I wanted to say ‘Thank you’ to her. Make a birthday greeting. And I thought- could you help me make it? Could you record?”

That’s when Chat noticed Ladybug had brought a tiny purse with her. It was red like her costume, strapped across her side. She was reaching to get something out of it. Maybe she had brought her civilian phone? If she had, he could get her number! He could put in his! He could- it wasn’t a phone. It was an old digital camera.

“Wow, can that thing still record? Was it your kwami’s in another life?”

“Oh shush, you,” Ladybug said with a playful smile. “I don’t want to risk losing my phone and having it end up in the wrong hands with a Ladybug video. Old school is way more secure nowadays.”

“Why not just record on your yo-yo?” Chat asked. “I’ve taken videos on my baton and I _know_ you have that incredible digital album of photos you’ve taken on your yo-yo.”

But Ladybug shook her head. “I know I _could_ record, but I don’t know how to get anything off of the yo-yo.”

“Neither do I,” Chat grumbled. Oh, how the world of viral entertainment would crumble if he could just have a social media account on that little baton! “I can send you pictures and videos, though!”

“I know,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “I feel like your own personal vine account sometimes.”

“And you should feel very paw-nered for that.”

“Okay, sure,” Ladybug laughed. “But until we figure out how to get pictures and videos to anyone but each other…” She handed him the bulky pink camera.

“If you had asked me, I could have brought a camera. _I_ actually have _pockets,”_ Chat Noir gloated. He patted his pockets, one side empty, one hand tapping the outline of the Marinette lucky charm.

“Which is so unfair!” Ladybug said. “It’s misogyny, that girls’ clothes don’t get pockets. Why does it have to extend to my suit, too?! If I made my own clothes, which obviously I don’t, I would always sew in pockets. But these ridiculous indestructible suits don’t come off, and would probably break all my sewing needles.” She shook her head, as if shaking away the disgrace of a world without pockets. “Anyway, I wanted to use my camera. But I will let you carry it during patrol, if you’d be so kind! This purse isn’t ideal for leaping around the city.”

Adrien took the camera, pretending to be weighted down when it landed in his hand. He considered a few jokes about its size and bulky shape, but instead said, “I am happy to share the _weight_ with you, My Lady. Anytime you need a paw.” _Perfect. Two puns, both kind and flirty. She’s gonna love that!_

She ignored it instead. “Thanks. Now, about the recording…?”

“Hmm. I’ll have to see if I remember how to use these things,” Chat teased. He knew how, of course, but appreciated the chance to stall. Maybe Ladybug had childhood pictures on here and he could see a little bit what Emma, Louis, and Hugo might look like when he and she had kids! But no. “Aww, no pictures saved? What use is that, buginette?”

“See, I knew you would go looking!” Ladybug squeaked. “Just turn on the video tool. I’d like to get the video now, in case we have to use our powers tonight and have to transform and go home.”

Chat turned the video on surreptitiously. “Does that mean if we don’t use our powers tonight we don’t have to go home? I’d be happy to spend all night with you.”

“Chat,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling, as Chat could see without needing to zoom in on her face. But he did zoom in, of course. “I can’t stay out late anyway tonight.”

“Why not? No midnight rendezvous with me?” He panned the camera down Ladybug’s body, filming her feet as she switched the weight-bearing leg. She was slouching and tapping her foot. Rather pedestrian.

“No, I’ve got somewhere to be tonight. That’s why we had to meet so early in the first place. We’ll go out later some other time.” Chat zoomed back out to film all of her.

He had chosen the ambiguous word _rendezvous_ , which meant both date and meeting, and chose to believe Ladybug’s “go out some other time” reply was equally ambiguous on purpose. “Soon? Cross of wood, cross of iron? [1]”

“Chat,” Ladybug laughed. She smiled softly. That soft smile, the one where he could tell she appreciated him, made Chat’s knees buckle together. Chat zoomed in on the smile and her warm sky-blue eyes. Ladybug continued, “We work together every day. Yes, I can promise we’ll go out late at night some other time soon. Cross of wood, cross of iron. Can we start the video now?”

“We already have, ma chérie. Say ‘Allö’ to Alya!”[2]

“What?!” Ladybug squealed. “Chat!” She pounced on him, trying to knock the camera out of his hands. Chat laughed in delight as she sprawled on top of him, limbs swinging wildly to get the camera. She was laughing along, despite all her half-hearted complaints to give her the camera.

 “Okay, okay,” Chat laughed again. He slipped out of Ladybug’s grip. The fact he even could do that was a testament to how much she _wasn’t_ mad at him. “Alright, I’ll record the right stuff now. You stand up. Ready?”

 Ladybug had regained her composure, looking like she was ready to fight an akuma, not leave a birthday message for their biggest fan. Chat told her so and she stuck her tongue out at him. But even still, Ladybug changed her expression to a smile. “Better?”

 “A smile from you always is, my lady.” Chat had never stopped recording. Losing any moment of a calm and happy Ladybug would be a sin. Besides, she could always edit. “And...go!”

 “Happy Birthday, Alya! Chat and I-“

 Chat waved his claws in front of the camera, cheering “cou-cou!”[3]

 Ladybug glared. “ _Chat and I,_ ” she repeated forcefully, “are so happy to have you as a fan. We admire your dedication and understanding of our secrecy especially in the light of curiosity. We both enjoy reading The Ladyblog from time to time. It’s a wonderful way for us to keep in touch with what the citizens of Paris are thinking about our help.”

 “And it has great pictures!” Chat cheered from behind the camera. He flashed an ‘ok’ symbol in front of the camera, then put the tiny Ladybug visible in the camera’s screen in between two fingers to frame her. “Love it.”

 “Yes, it has lovely pictures.” Ladybug rolled her eyes so much, Chat could see it from meters away. “But I really wanted to thank you for using your birthday to encourage so much good in the world. We have been overjoyed to watch #LadyBlogHérosDuJour blow up and see all the goodness being shared throughout Paris. We love thinking and hoping we inspire Parisians to be good to one another and to help prevent akuma attacks through kindness. It means something special that we have inspired you to inspire that in others. You’re an incredible force. In fact, _you_ are a superhero.”

 “You’re the cat’s meow!!” Chat agreed.

 Ladybug laughed and nodded. “Sure are. Now…” she walked towards Chat, her partner filming her face as Lady came closer. Ladybug looked at Chat instead of the camera. “Let’s say ‘Happy Birthday together’.”

 “Oh! Okay!” Chat walked to Lady, the camera screen pointed at them, but not the shutter. “Now how do I...where is the ‘rotate camera’ button?”

 “What? It doesn’t have one of those! It’s a real camera, not a phone. You have to actually turn it around.”

 “How am I gonna know it’s a good angle then? She needs to see me from my best side.”

 “Just try, Chat.”

 Chat fiddled with the camera and aiming it just right. “Of course you don’t mind; all your sides are your best side!” Finally satisfied with the angle (hopefully), Chat said, “okay!”

 In perfect unison, Ladybug and Chat Noir cheered “Happy Birthday, Alya!” They waved goodbye and Chat jostled the camera, trying to turn it off.

 Once the shutter closed, Chat opened his empty pocket and placed the camera in it. “So what’s our plan for this evening? You said you had about an hour, right?”

 “Yes. I know that’s not a lot.” She sighed. They liked to start patrols here in the 1st arrondissement and spiral outwards, as the akumas seemed attracted to the more famous parts of France surrounding the Ile de la Cité. They would patrol the denser populated but less tourist-friendly arrondissements every other patrol or so. “I think we have time to hit the first and second tonight. Maybe if it’s quiet we can check out the third, but let’s not push it.”

 Chat nodded. He looked at the Louvre grounds below them and the visitors on their ways out. With so many people there, security was patrolling the area pretty heavily. No need for the superheroes here. Chat brushed his open palm against his fist.[4] “Then let’s get started. And let’s make it a paw-ful night for any villain out here!”

 --

 An hour came and went extremely fast. They had broken up a gang fight nearby, busted a robbery in the 2nd, stopped a car crash, and rescued a hurt homeless person and their dog. Ironically, the dog was the most taken with Chat. They sat on the roof of Choco Story, a chocolate museum they’d saved from burglary in the past, as they rested from the night. Chat had purposely avoided using his Cataclysm to try to save his time with Ladybug. Or, as she said, because they didn’t know if things destroyed outside of an akuma attack could be fixed. Whatever, his choice made both of them happy.

He’d given back Ladybug’s camera and she had been recalling some of their night with him to make sure they were on the same page. She always took notes on regular patrols so that they could try to find the source of the problems and maybe help the criminals see the light. Akuma attacks, Ladybug had explained one time, always ended with a very clear akumatized victim with a very clear trigger. It was easy to find the problem and root it out. Regular criminal activity was different. Criminals rarely threw up their hands after being caught and told their life story and how they’d come to learn they should change and make amends.

 She started to skate over the car crash (it was unintentional, as usual. Just a distracted driver.) when Chat stopped her. “That was scary.”

 “Hu-what? The car crash?”

 “Yeah,” he said, solemnly. “I was really scared. We were just jumping around, heard the tires squeal, and suddenly you weren’t next to me anymore. You were in the middle of the road, lassoing a Renault to help it brake. And there was another car right behind you! It would have cut you in half if you hadn’t jumped out of the way fast enough!

 “There was nothing I could do but watch,” he added forlornly. “I could have seen you...I could have seen you die tonight.” His claws traveled by themselves to his pocket, unzipping it just enough so he could hold his Marinette lucky charm for comfort. The crash was long since over, but he still felt they needed the luck to keep Ladybug alive.

 “I didn’t even think about that,” Ladybug said quietly. She put her yo-yo down to give Chat her full attention. “I just jumped.”

 “I know you did. That’s what you do,” Chat shrugged. “When someone needs help, you jump first, ask questions second. If you didn’t, those people would have gotten hurt.” _They wouldn’t have DIED, though,_ he added mentally. “We’re teammates, so I just wanted you to know. I was really scared tonight.”

 “I’m sorry I scared you, Chat. It went so fast...I see how scary that must have been.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You know I’d never do something to scare you or hurt either of us on purpose.” It wasn’t a question. “And if I get hurt…If I get hurt and can’t talk, Tikki knows where to take me. You take me there right away, okay, Chat Noir?”

 “That doesn’t make me less scared,” he replied,

 “It makes _me_ less scared, knowing that you’ll know what to do. And you should know that Plagg and I will take care of you, too. Neither of us is going to die on the job. I won’t let that happen.”

 “You’re very brave, My Lady,” Chat said quietly. He could tell that she understood the bravery he meant was not the same bravery she had to stop a car. It was the bravery to continue facing death with him.

 “I get scared, too,” Ladybug admitted.

 “I know.” Quiet. “I like to say I have nine lives, but I really, _really_ doubt that’s one of my actual powers. I’m sorry for when I scare you.”

 They sat quietly, at least until Chat realized he was remembering all their near-death experiences or times they’d gotten hurt. He was very glad Ladybug hadn’t removed her hand yet, it was comforting. Still, no need to replay Ladybug being eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex again. He needed to change the topic.

 “We should visit this sometime,” Chat said, pointing down at the museum with his foot. “It would be super fun.”

 “Tikki would love that,” Ladybug said. “She has _such_ a sweet tooth. She normally goes for  cookies, but anything with chocolate makes her voice jump a whole octave. And it’s already high!” She laughed. And then she pulled her hand away. Oh well.

 “Okay, but if we took Tikki, we’d have to take Plagg to a fromagerie after.”

 “Or a cheese museum!”

 “Is there one in Paris?” Chat asked, honestly. Adrien had looked. Okay, he hadn’t looked very _hard_ , but he’d only come across cheese stores and wineries. Plagg might be annoying, but Adrien loved him and wanted to do nice things for his kwami. Sometimes.

 Ladybug paused. She puffed up her cheeks and widened her eyes, letting the air release in a ‘bof’ of air.[5] “You know, I don’t know! I don’t think I’ve seen one!” She shook her head in surprise. “I’m going to have to use google and look that up later.”

 “Let me know what you find!” Chat said. “I would love to meet Tikki.”

 Ladybug smirked. “Is that because if you meet Tikki, it means you meet me? Maskless me?”

 Chat scooted closer and grinned. “That might be part of it, buginette. Without these masks in the way, I think we’d get on together like a cat to milk.”

 “Am I the milk?!” Ladybug asked in mock horror.

 Chat purred his response. “If you want to play as the kitten, I’ll be whatever you want, My Lady.”

 It was dark, but Chat’s night vision allowed him to see red crawl up Ladybug’s cheeks to match her mask.

 She bit her lip and shook her head. “You know we can’t reveal our identities. We both know this.”

 He sighed. “Yeah...I guess I just…” Chat had so many things he could say. He loved her, more than just enjoyed her as a partner but really truly loved her. On the hardest days with his dad and the loneliest days with or without his friends, it was thinking about Ladybug that got him through them. Yes, she was courageous, beautiful, smart, and fun to battle with, but Chat loved more than the public side of her. When they would talk and prepare before and after battle, he could hear how much love she had for Paris and he had personally watched her grow into becoming a hero. He remembered their first few battles often- that Ladybug was almost unrecognizable, but knowing that nervous, scared young girl was the same powerful woman he sat next to now completed her masterful personhood. He loved Ladybug because she still was that girl _and_ the superheroine of Paris.

 Chat gulped hard. “I guess I just want to spend more time with you. _This_ you, the calm, sociable you. Ladybug and Chat Noir can’t exactly get Andres’ ice cream and take a walk through the Tuilleries. _Or_ a cheese museum.”

 “You don’t really want to spend time with maskless me,” she disagreed, quietly. And boy oh boy did Adrien disagree with that! To him, Ladybug embodied almost every ideal trait he could possibly think of from A-Z. In fact, he’d written them out one night. And then he did it again in Chinese pinyin. When Plagg saw the list, he’d only made it through “ _amicable, belle, courageux, dirigeant” [6] _ before complaining he was going to vomit and flew off.

 He explained, “I do, though! I want to see you with your friends, I want to meet the people you keep abandoning me for,” he nudged her playfully, “I want to know what your hobbies are, besides backflipping off of national monuments. I want to help you with your homework, or have you help me. I bet you’re better at it than you think. I want to see you with croissant on your lips in the morning. I want-” he paused. She looked sad with her chin down and eyes away. No! That wasn’t what he wanted to do!! Chat put an arm around her, as friendly as he could, and squeezed her tight. “I’m sorry. What I really want is to see you happy.”

 Ladybug looked up at him. Oh, god. Their faces were so close and her eyes were so damn pretty and sparkly and her lips were….ooohhh god. “I think you’re pretty great,” Chat said in the understatement of the night. “I treasure our friendship more than anything I own. That’s….all.”

 With a loud inhale and exhale, Ladybug answered, “Thanks. Me too, Chat. It’s hard, not knowing who you are and not telling you who I am.” She stared at him. “I’ve wanted to. I’ve wanted to...today, actually.”

 Chat tilted his head to the side. “What happened today?”

 Ladybug looked away from Chat and out at the city. A breeze picked up her pigtails, teasing Chat as the wind played with the hair he longed to stroke himself. Ladybug answered, finally, breaking the silence. “Nobody else understands what this is like. There is so much _good_ that we get to see...and so much bad. For every act of bravery and kindness that no one but us sees, for every perfect sunset and magical moment, we see so much suffering and evil… and I can’t talk to anyone about it.”

 “You can talk to me, My Lady,” Chat quietly offered.

 Ladybug smiled at him and he wished to keep that smile forever. “I know. And we do talk about it. But it’s not...sometimes the things we deal with affect my personal feelings or my regular life and…” she sighed. “It’s hard, not knowing who you are and not telling you who I am,” she repeated. Apparently, this summed up what she wanted to say. “You’re one of my best friends. I don’t like keeping this secret from a best friend. But I can’t change that, just like how we had to deal with the car crash today. It’s hard, but it’s what we have to do.”

 “Ugh, why are you so mature?”

 Ladybug laughed out loud. She stood up and looked at the pharmacy sign flashing the time nearby. “Oh, shoot. I’m late for my friend! We didn’t even finish wrapping up my notes. I’ll have to do that later tonight. Thanks for your help, Chat Noir!”

 “Ladybug, are you _sure_ you need to leave now?”

 Ladybug was ready to throw her yo-yo, but paused and put it back down. “Yes, Chat. Paris is fine, I need to take care of a friend now. I promised.”

 “It’s just…” He was at a loss for words. Then he gestured to the sky. “It’s so early! Most bad news doesn’t start happening until after dinner. Not before. Although I can’t imagine why. I know this kitty is a lot crankier before he gets his meals. I would never rob a bank after a cheese course and a bowl of milk!”

 Ladybug smiled. She ruffled Chat’s hair between his cat ears and mask. Chat leaned into her hand and purred. “I know it’s early. But we don’t need to constantly be on patrol. Remember how exhausting that was? With M. Damocles?”

 Chat laughed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t miss those days, that’s for sure. I’ll save the babysitting for my own kittens, please.”

 Ladybug chuckled. “Anyway. If you really feel like it, you can stay out. You know how to reach me if something bad happens and you need my help.” She pulled out her yo-yo and flipped the communicator tool open, waving it at Chat. “I won’t be far.”

 Sighing over dramatically, Chat relented. He knew she would leave, but maybe one day...maybe one day he’d convince her to stick around. At least until sunrise. Then the next sunrise. Then the one after that. Then the rest of their sunrises until the sun fell into the sea. “Alright then, go take care of your friend. I’ll see you soon?”

 “Of course!” Ladybug promised. She threw her yo-yo into the night and wiggled her fingers goodbye. “Good night, mon chaton!”

 Chat Noir’s heart flipped over at her loving nickname and immediately, he missed her. Even before he lost sight of her red costume. Oh, his Ladybug.

 Absentmindedly, Chat grabbed his baton, and slid it open to the communicator. He pushed the button and called Ladybug, who picked up on the second ring. She was out of breath and clearly concerned as she said, “Chat?”

 “Ladybug, something bad is happening.”

 “What? What is it??”

 Adrien could hear the zip of her yo-yo as she turned around. “You left and I miss you.”

 And then he heard the yo-yo release. “Oh, my god, Chat.” She sighed into the communicator and Chat bit his grinning lip. “Are you familiar with _The Cat who Cried Wolf?_ ”

 “Never met him. Is he cute?”

 “ _Goodnight, Chat.”_

  _“_ Awww, Lady…”

 “I need to go!”

 “I know….I’m letting you go…”

 “I’m going to miss you, too.” This comment surprised Chat. His ears twitched and his lips rocked upwards into a smile. “Now, goodnight.”

 “Goodnight,” Chat finally returned. The communicator clicked into silence. _She’s going to miss me_ , Chat thought. He sighed and fell backwards onto the roof, staring up at the few twinkling stars above Paris. They sparkled with reprises of the feelings she shared and their moments together. It might be a good night after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "Cross of Wood, Cross of Iron": Shortened part of the longer French phrase, "Croix de bois, croix de fer. Si je mens, je vais enfer." which literally translates to "Cross of wood, cross of iron. If I lie, I go to hell." It's basically "cross my heart, hope to die, [stick a needle in my eye]." 
> 
> 2"Allö": "Hello". Did you guess right?! The only reason this one gets an endnote is because Allö is typically only used as a greeting on a phonecall or other electronic communication (FaceTime, etc). Video sometimes counts (it's not a hard and fast rule, just a social one), but more than that, Allö sounds GREAT with "Alya". So of course Chat's using that.
> 
> 3"Cou-cou": Hi! This is a very casual, very friendly greeting. Used a lot with children or playful adults. 
> 
> 4Gesture of smacking or brushing your fist with your open palm: Hand-sign for "let's get out of here". Chat actually says something out loud (since they're not in a delicate situation), but this is a very useful gesture so you can tell your friends you want to beat it without actually SAYING anything.
> 
> 5"She puffed up her cheeks and widened her eyes, letting the air release in a 'bof' of air": Or as most non-French people I know like to call it, "pufferfish-face". You puff up your face like a fish and then sort of let all the air out between your lips in kind of a 'puff' or a small raspberry. This is sometimes followed with a 'je ne sais pas', because it's their face for "I don't know", but not necessarily "i don't know and I don't care"- that would be more the Bof Shrug from a few chapters ago. Pufferfish face usually has effort behind the thinking. THIS is the most common foreign facial expression/gesture I noticed in France. I gotta admit, I miss it and it always makes me happy when French people in America use pufferfish-face.
> 
> 6"amicable, belle, courageux, dirigeant": Nice (friendly), beautiful, courageous, leader (adjective, not noun...so, 'has the qualities of a leader' I guess?)
> 
> \--  
> Long endnotes today. Lots of friendly dialogue will do that...but as always, it should completely understandable without reading my nerding out down here.


	6. Girls' Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning for this chapter- we're going to Alya's house! This means a few things: 1) LOTS of head canons, 2) LOTS of creole and French slang, which means lots of end notes (we're talking really long), and 3) we're pushing to the limits of this story's T rating. Honestly, this chapter is as sinful as it's going to get, but just through conversation, not actual physicality.
> 
> As always, even with so many footnotes, I write it so you can understand them through context. Don't freak out please!
> 
> As for the head canons... We know Alya's family is from Martinique and is connected to their culture, so I head canon them as talking with their French and Creole mixed together, as well as clinging to a lot of Creole proverbs, cultural beliefs/religions, and superstitions. I have done my very best to write this with as much research as possible and remembering as much as I could from the few Martinican people I've met. However, if you catch that something I wrote is inaccurate, please let me know.
> 
> Now that that's aside, this chapter is another FUN one! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Even with much less time than Marinette had originally planned, Ladybug was able to zip home (ever so quietly, since her parents thought she had left for the night an hour and a half earlier), upload the video from her old digital camera to the Ladyblog’s submission form as an ‘anonymous tip’, pack her overnight bag, and zip to Alya’s corner just a few minutes later than normal. When she reached the corner, Ladybug made sure she was alone and transformed back into Marinette.

Marinette ran from the corner to Alya’s door. “You know - huff - Tikki, - huff - , it’d be really nice - huff - if my Ladybug endurance - huff - carried over!” Tikki giggled as she flew next to Marinette’s ear.

“I’m not going to give you credit for the thousands of years of hard work  _ I’ve _ done with Ladybugs! You could just listen to Monsieur D’Argencourt more in gym class.”

Marinette had reached Alya’s building and caught her breath, hands on her knees, before going up the flights of stairs. “Okay sure, but what about the hours - huff - of exercise  _ I _ do as Ladybug, huh?”

“You are getting stronger, Marinette. Maybe not leap over a building strong, but I promise you are!” Tikki didn’t elaborate because Marinette was opening the door. She disappeared into Marinette’s jacket as the two of them went up to find Alya’s apartment.

Otis Césaire  opened the door, greeting Marinette with a firm handshake and sending her into the house. Alya screamed at the sight of her best friend and ran to give her a hug.

“Marinette! You won’t believe it! Manman,[1] how long until dinner? I have to show Marinette something!”

“I’m dishing the paella right now, doudou[2]. You can show her  _ after _ .”

 Alya groaned, but didn’t complain. “You’re gonna love Manman’s paella,” Alya promised. She grabbed Marinette’s hand and pulled her into their kitchen.

 “Rebonjour[3], Mme Césaire.”  The room smelled of spices, sausage, and mussels. “Mmm, that smells good!”

“Thank you, Marinette,” Marlena said with a grin. “I’m glad you get to be here on one of the nights I’m willing to cook.”

“Hey, tantine, Marinette liked my hamburgers when she was here last,” Otis complained. He helped his wife set out the silverware and grabbed a baguette for the table.

Marinette and Alya exchanged a look and giggled. Sure, she liked them alright...but they had passed on seconds and eaten a box of cookies in Alya’s room to fill up afterwards. Alya’s mother was a master chef all day at Le Grand Paris Hotel, which meant by the time she was home from work, it took a birthday or some other special event to even convince her to step foot in the kitchen. Unless Marlena had leftovers from the hotel, it was Alya, Otis, or a delivery service that provided dinner. And Otis’s limited repertoire of meals definitely wasn’t on the top of Marinette’s favorite out of those options.

“Okay, Otis. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Ella! Etta! Poté mannèv![4] Dinner’s ready!” 

The two little twins came barrelling into the room, cheering. “Alya’s birthday dinner! Alya’s birthday dinner!” They ran over to Alya, cheering, “Birthday bisous!” She bent down and gave them each a bisou according to their wishes.

The six of them sat around the table. Marlena offered grace to Le Bon Dieu and then they dug in. The paella was incredible, and Marinette couldn’t stop herself from moaning in delight. She swallowed and looked over at Alya’s mom. “It’s delicious, Madame Césaire.”

“Thank you, Marinette,” she replied in kind.

Otis smiled over at Marinette. “So nice of you to join us for dinner, Marinette. Alya showed us your present for her. It’s very impressive!”

“Yes, you’re very talented. Did you really make that all on your own?” Marlena asked.

“Thank you Madame, Monsieur. I make all my stuff on my own,” Marinette answered.

Alya huffed. “ _ Manman _ , I told you that already!”

“I know you did, doudou, but your papa and I can still compliment your friend. Did you learn that from Sabine?”

“Oh, no,” Marinette said with a bit of a laugh. “Maman taught me how to hand-stitch and sew a button and Papa taught me how to work a sewing machine. But I’m self-taught for everything else. And I took a few classes from a neighbor.”

Impressed, Marlena pulled her lips together and smiled. Otis nodded as if he wasn’t surprised. “Young talent is always so inspiring. New brooms sweep best!”

Marlena nodded in agreement, stirring her paella and choosing a hearty bits. “You two have bright futures ahead, Marinette and Alya. A lot of talent.” She smiled wide at the girls. “I can’t wait for the day my little doudou writes a review of my restaurant for some big newspaper.”

“Manman, I don’t do food reviews. I told you that!”

Otis spoke up. “She’s right, tantine. Our little Alya is going to win the Albert Londres Prize![5]” His beam matched Alya’s. And then he added, “For an article about  _ my _ zoo!”

“ _ Papa! _ ” 

Otis laughed, rubbing Alya’s shoulder. “I’m just teasing you.” He leaned over and kissed Alya’s red hair. “No, I know. You’re going to win it for writing something incredible about your heroes.”

“Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Ella and Etta cheered.

“Ouais, exact,” Otis nodded.

“Thank you,” Alya said stiffly. Then she flashed a much warmer smile.

Marinette looked in pride at her friend. As nervous as it made her to see Alya get so close to Marinette’s secrets, it was impossible to not be proud of her best friend. Especially in the contagious atmosphere of support. The family continued to sing praises on the birthday girl, matched only by their praises on the paella. It seemed to be a hit around the entire table.

Etta and Emma didn’t quite agree, picking out the tiny shrimps, eyes and legs still in tact, and battled each other with them.

“Girls, put down those  _ kribich,” _ Marlena hissed at her littlest daughters.

Marinette looked quickly at Alya, asking “kribich?” 

“Cre _ vettes _ ,” Alya said, translating her mother’s Créole French for Marinette’s Parisian French. She pointed to her sisters, still battling with their shrimps.[6]

“Did you hear what I said, or what??” Marlena added, her voice getting low and scary, her accent thicker than normal. The twins froze and looked up at their mother. There seemed to be a fire behind her eyes, but she didn’t need to do more than look and speak to have them listen.

Ella dropped her shrimp into her paella, immediately crying out, “It wasn’t us!”

Etta finished, “It was the Sapotis!”

Marlena’s eyes darkened. “You mix with the dogs, you’ll catch their fleas. Don’t invite those spirits in this house!” She quickly signed a cross across her body. “ _ Arrêtez de faire les  _ _ bêtises.[7] _  Now.”

“Yes, manman. Sorry, manman,” They put the shrimp back in their soup and silently started spooning it into their mouths. Pleased with the correction, Marlena leaned back into her seat and smiled, pulling a mussel out of its shell to eat it.

Marinette looked around the room at the people who had at one time been Animan, Lady Wifi, and the Sapotis. She decided the day Alya’s mother was akumatized, it would be more terrifying than the rest of her family combined.

The rest of dinner went quickly and without much excitement. Alya told her family about her party and filled them in on the presents she received. After dinner was over, Otis got a birthday cake out of the fridge, placing it on the table with fanfare. “Dessert! By the hand Marinette’s father.”

They oohed and ahhed at the pretty cake, topped with fruit and flowers and piped with Alya’s name. The family and Marinette sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her, then Alya dished pieces out to everyone.  Once she had served her plate last, Alya asked, “Manman, Papa, can Marinette and I eat in my room? Souplé?[8] I have something to show her.”

“ _ Woy[9], doudou. _ Have you been thinking about that all dinner?”

Alya tapped her fingertips together and gave a weak smile. “Kinda?”

Marlena waved her hand. “Alright, you two.  _ Teenagers _ . Don’t even want to eat your own birthday cake with your family.”

“Thank you!” Alya ran around the other side of the table and gave each of her parents a kiss, then ruffled her sisters’ hairs. “See you in the morning!”

“Swimming tomorrow!” Ella reminded her. Etta chorused, “Yeah, swimming!”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Alya laughed.

“Mwen emmen’w.[10] And don’t forget to brush your teeth,” her dad called as Alya tugged Marinette towards the bedroom. 

“Love you too. And okay!” Alya yelled back before shutting the door behind them. “Oh my god, girl. I have  _ got _ to show you what I was working on before you got here.”

“What?” Marinette asked, setting her overnight bag down and walking over to the computer. The admin version of “Ladyblog” was up on a small window, a video editing software up as well. Marinette recognized herself as Ladybug on the screen, as she normally saw on Alya’s computer.

Alya minimized things and clicked on various images with the ease of a master. “So, Ladybug and Chat Noir were out tonight. They might be out still, but I’m taking the night off from blogging.” Marinette didn’t even need to speak. She just lifted one eyebrow and tilted her head in disdain. “Oh, shut up. I’m not out looking for them, am I? No, I’m just...editing my new fan submissions. I got a few!” She gestured to the first one, a grainy photo of a black and red blur. “I think this one is them with a car crash or something? Not great, right? But they didn’t just do that tonight.”

She clicked to the next picture. This one was close enough that the photographer must have been standing right by them. It was an adorable shot of the homeless person’s dog, paws on Chat’s shoulder and licking his face while he sputtered. Ladybug was behind, mouth covering most of her smile as she laughed. The photo wasn’t perfect; Ladybug’s head was partially cut off and the person they had helped was looking at the photographer with their mouth wide open as if they were mid-word. Still, it was adorable. Alya narrated, “Chat Noir making a new friend... _ definitely _ posting this one.”

“Yeah, I like it!” Marinette said. She couldn’t help but giggle, remembering how personally offended Chat had pretended to be with the dog’s affection. “Send that one to me.”

“Sure thing.” With a right click and a few taps, she had emailed the picture off. “As I was saying, I’ll post it, but I’ll probably wait for a slower news day because… drum roll please…” she waited for Marinette to drumroll on her knees and then clicked over to the video editing software. “ _ A birthday message from Chat Noir and Ladybug! _ ”

Marinette knew this was the climax, so she had mentally been preparing her reaction. “What? Wow!! That’s so cool, Alya! How’d you get that?”

“Ladybug sent it through the submissions as an anonymous tip. She sent a message with it… ‘Happy Birthday, from one hero to another. You inspire us! Sorry the video isn’t edited, I was in a rush. And, uh...see you later.’” Alya finished awkwardly. Marinette smiled to herself. The  _ actual _ message had ended ‘If I need a hand from Rena Rouge, I know where to look. See you soon!’, but Alya continued to be an excellent secret keeper and never had hinted at her connection to Rena Rouge. “So I was editing it right now to post on the blog, but the whole uncut thing is so…” Alya looked at Marinette with a face pinched together in a smile, “so  _ cute! _ ”

Alya moved the cursor to the beginning of the video and from the first shot of Ladybug slouching in a rather unflattering position, Marinette groaned.  _ That damn cat, _ she thought. “So we’re watching from the start?”

“Oh là là, girl, you are gonna  _ love this _ . It is so awesome.”

Alya started the video and the slightly grainy but very loud voice of Chat Noir came through her speakers.  _ “Does that mean if we don’t use our powers tonight we don’t have to go home? I’d be happy to spend all night with you.” _ Marinette had been curious to see where he had started recording, so she was glad for this opportunity. But it was still embarrassing to watch herself on tape, let alone when she didn’t know she was being recorded! The two heroes bantered lightly on the screen. Chat’s voice, next to the camera, was significantly louder than Ladybug’s at any given moment. Marinette rolled her eyes as the camera panned shakily and unprofessionally down her body...then filmed her slouch.

“Wh-” Marinette started to interrupt, but Alya shushed her and covered her mouth with a hand, entranced by the video. Even with all of Chat’s ridiculous zooming in and out, panning up and down. It was like he never got to use a camera before and thought it was a toy best used like a dramatic fashion photographer. It made Marinette feel motion sick.

She heard herself tell him,  _ “We’ll go out later some other time.”  _

_ “Soon? Cross of wood, cross of iron?” _

_ “Chat,”  _ Ladybug laughed. Marinette watched as Chat zoomed in on her face. God, it was weird to watch her own reaction to Chat Noir’s antics. Her smile extended across her whole face and into her eyes. It made Marinette lean forward in her chair and Alya smack Marinette’s knees in excitement. Wow...she really looked... Ladybug continued,  _ “We work together every day. Yes, I can promise we’ll go out late at night some other time soon. Cross of wood, cross of iron.  Can we start the video now?” _

_ “We already have, ma chérie. Say ‘Allö’ to Alya!” _

Alya sat back with a huge grin on her face, watching Marinette’s reaction for the next part. There was a squeal of shock from Ladybug and a flash of red. A dull thud came from the speakers and the view changed abruptly to the night sky. There was muffled laughter and flashes of tin roof, leather, and red superhero suit. “They’re tackling each other, I think,” Alya narrated out of the side of her mouth. For a few moments, the view was completely blocked by someone’s hands. Then, they heard Chat more clearly.

_ “Okay, okay,” _ he laughed. The camera was uncovered, but filming the ground first close up, then farther away. Apparently, Chat was standing up. Filming his own feet, they heard Chat say,  _ “Alright, I’ll record the right stuff now. You stand up. Ready?” _

Marinette shook her head with a smile. When she noticed there was only one video on the camera during the upload she figured that Chat hadn’t stopped recording, but still..what a  _ dork _ . 

The camera swung upwards to Ladybug standing now, brushing herself off. She had a serious face and a dangerous glint in her eye. Chat spoke into the camera,  _ “Buginette, you look ready to fight an Akuma, not leave a birthday message for our biggest fan.” _

Even with her stoic face, Ladybug stuck her tongue out. Then she smiled. Marinette watched herself smile and watched a slow, slightly less nauseating zoom in to Ladybug’s torso. Okay, it was fun to see their friendship from the outside. And it was...cute. As was their banter before Chat claimed to start his recording.

_ “Happy Birthday, Alya! Chat and I-”  _ Four giant black fingers waggled in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s loud voice cheered  _ “cou-cou!” _ .

They watched Ladybug praise Alya and her blog. Marinette watched her best friend try to smother a smile at the praise. When Chat practically yelled,  _ “And it has great pictures!” _ , Marinette looked back to the screen. She understood now what Chat had been doing while recording: his hand in front of the camera was arranged with perfect perspective to look like he had made a frame around Ladybug. Marinette chuckled while her recorded self rolled her eyes.

Ladybug and Chat got back to praising Alya and her very popular hashtag. Then she saw herself walk towards the camera, growing larger and larger. Marinette knew what was coming next and smiled. Ladybug and Chat Noir had disappeared from view, but Marinette and Alya could hear them talking as Chat Noir filmed a nondescript Paris rooftop.

_ “Now how do I...where is the ‘rotate camera’ button?” Chat asked. _

_ “What? It doesn’t have one of those! It’s a real camera, not a phone. You have to actually turn it around.” _

_ “How am I gonna know it’s a good angle then? She needs to see me from my best side.” _

_ “Just try, Chat.” _

The camera bounced around as Chat tried to maneuver it. He had turned it around first, giving Alya and Marinette a screen full of his shining, magically green eyes. Then his chin, in a most unflattering angle. Then the night sky again. Then his ear. Then Ladybug’s face, way too close, and finally, an angle that included them both! Kind of.

Blind from knowing what he was filming, Chat had aimed the camera so that half the screen showed Paris, the other half showing all of Ladybug’s face and...well,  _ most _ of his. Both heroes were cut awkwardly at their chins with way too much sky above them. Chat spoke again.  _ “Of course you don’t mind; all your sides are your best side!” _

The terrible angle made Marinette laugh hard and loud. What a ridiculous pair they were!  _ Chat would get a kick out of this video. _ She smiled watching them cheer a birthday greeting and then wave. Then, the camera went crazy again as Chat jostled it around trying to find the off switch. The video froze on a shot of Chat’s toe.

“Wasn’t that  _ adorable _ ?!” Alya gushed. She spun in her chair to Marinette and leaned back. “Ugh. They are just so in love.”

“In love?!” Marinette recoiled. “That’s what you got from that? You know they’re not a couple!”

“You don’t have to be  _ a couple _ to be  _ in love _ ,” Alya said, pushing Marinette and spinning her chair. Marinette laughed as she spun in a full circle back to her best friend. “Girl, of all people, how am I telling  _ you _ that? Or has dating Monsieur Luka given you amnesia to the last two years of your life before him?”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at Alya in response to the teasing about Adrien. “I know what you mean, Alya. But I still don’t think they’re in love. At least, not mutually.” 

“So, which do you think is really in love?”

“What? Are you kidding, Alya? Chat Noir, obviously,” Marinette gestured to the computer. “He is  _ constantly _ flirting with her, trying to kiss her...you film it yourself all the time!” 

Alya had her wicked smile all over her face. “Yeah, but that could totally be for show. You’ve seen Ladybug get all worked up when he’s in danger. And you saw her today!” She quickly moved the cursor to one of the sweet smiles Ladybug had for Chat before she knew he was filming. “Tell me that doesn’t just scream of  _ l’amooooour _ .”

Marinette felt her face get hot. Alya was totally, totally wrong. She was not in love with Chat! “If she’s so in love with him, why aren’t they dating?And you know they’re not, you said it yourself on live TV.”

Alya bopped Marinette’s nose. “I said they’re not dating  _ yet _ .” She leaned back again and crossed  her arms over her chest. “I give it...” Alya spun back to the screen and squinted at the shot of Ladybug’s soft smile. She started to mutter to herself, clearly wanting to make a precise guess. “ _ There’s something holding her back right now, but I’m not sure what. We still don’t know if they know each other outside of the mask...From Chat’s comments at the beginning, probably not yet. But...hmm….” _ She sat up and snapped her fingers. “Six months or less. Definitely before the end of this year. And I’d put money on it.”

“Oh, you wish.”

“So you’ll bet against that? New Years as the deadline?” Alya had a hand stuck out, then pulled it back to her. “And to be clear, I’m accounting for any time while their relationship is ‘secret’,” she said with air quotes. “I expect to either have a confession or video proof- in context- of a relationship between Ladybug and Chat Noir on or before the 31st of December.” She stuck her hand out again.

Marinette stared at it. Was she supposed to bet against herself?? Although she was pretty positive she had control over her own relationships...that would be a pretty weird thing. “No, I don’t want to bet.”

“Oh, come on, Marinette! It’s my birthday!”

“You’re pulling the birthday card so I’ll bet on two strangers’ relationship?”

“Yes!”

Marinette glared. “No!”

Alya whined. “Why noooot?”

“Alya,” she stumbled to figure out an answer, “You’re such good friends with them they sent you this video! I don’t know much about Ladybug, but I know she wouldn’t trust a video where she looks so...unflattering...with any random person on the street. How easy would it be for you to just orchestrate something between them to get me to pay for your dinner?”

Alya put her hands on her chest, her mouth dropped in mock horror. “You think  _ I _ would do that?”

“Yes, I do,” Marinette said firmly, crossing her arms.

“Okay I’m gonna be real here, I’m totes flattered you think I have that kind of control over Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Alya laughed. She paused, as if in thought. “Chat would do it.”

“Oh, in a second.”

“And they have fake-dated before to trick akumas.”

“They totally ha- wait, what?”  _ Marinette _ knew that, but how did Alya?! She should stop being surprised at what Alya knew, really.

“Totally! To trick Glaciator! The ice cream monster? Remember that one?? I didn’t tell you what I saw because you were being kind of a petite pétasse[11] that weekend. No offense, you made up for it and all, but I even posted the picture online.”

Alya seemed to have distracted herself from the bet, thankfully, and spun back to the computer. She clicked around her archive. Marinette was very curious- she didn’t know anyone had seen them after the Glaciator event. Yikes, that had been an emotional one for her. And for Chat.

“Voilà!”[12] Alya cheered. The picture was from behind, with Ladybug leaning into Chat’s side as a giant ice cream snowman bent down in front of them. She must have snapped it seconds before Ladybug and Chat Noir attacked. It was a very sweet picture, but very out of context. Still...Marinette had to stop herself before she asked Alya to send her that picture, too. “It was a very popular post, too.”

“Yeah...I’m sorry I was so rude that weekend,” Marinette sighed. “I guess I was starting to get really tired of unrequited love. It’s not very rewarding.”

“Girl, I know. And I get it! Come on, let’s sit on the bed.” They moved to the bed, Alya bringing their untouched cakes and forks. She grabbed her first bite and moaned. “Super good. Tell your dad he rocks. Relationships are way different than crushes.” She took a bite and then spoke again. “Not that they’re easier. Different problems. But it is easier to have your man show up when you wants him.” Another bite. “How’s that going anyway? You and Luka? Are their wedding bells in the future?” Alya waggled her eyebrows.

“Euh, we’re doing okay. But wedding bells?” She shrugged, “Probably not, to be honest. He wants to move to California-”

“California?!” Alya interrupted excitedly.

“-Or England.”

“England?!” Alya interrupted disgustedly.

Marinette laughed. “Why did you say it like that?”

“Well, they’re not exactly similar, are they? You’ve got Hollywood and sunshine and movie stars and surfing and ‘ _ What’s up, dude’ _ . And then you’ve got England with clouds and rain and gross food and sheep. They’ve got a cool flag, but it’s so...wet.”

“I don’t think he wants to move for the weather,” Marinette teased, annotating her sentence with her fork. “He wants to move for the music. According to Luka, all the good music comes from somewhere else. But I don’t want to go somewhere else.”

“Alright, so don’t get married. But how’s it going for now?”

Marinette hesitated. “I...don’t know. I think we’re running out of things to talk about.”  _ Or I am, at least. _ “And it doesn’t feel like we’ve got the same connection that people like my mom and dad have. Or Mylène and Ivan.”

“Girl, I don’t think even  _ Nino _ and I have what Mylène and Ivan have. But maybe Mylène and Ivan think the same thing about us! You don’t see couples behind the scenes. You only see what they want you to see. You shouldn’t compare your relationship to anyone else’s. You do you, girl.”

Marinette could feel Tikki buzz slightly- something she did when she was excited or agreed with what someone said outside the jacket. “Good point. I guess I shouldn’t compare us to other people. It’s hard, though. I do a lot of comparing.”

Laughing, Alya nodded. “I bet. You got lists for the types of lists you make.”

“Like Adrien. Before I met Luka, I would turn anyone down for Adrien. I would have turned down Prince Ali for Adrien! Then I met Luka. You know I still liked them both when we started dating. I figured the feelings for Adrien would just...go away.

“They kind of have. I’m a lot more comfortable around Adrien. My tongue doesn’t swell up, my palms don’t sweat, I’ve stopped tracking his schedule, I even hang out with him without freaking out about it. But he still does something to me. He still makes my heart skip a beat when he compliments me or our hands accidentally touch, and I still catch myself thinking about him, and me and him, and what a future could be like with him. I liked talking with Adrien at your party more than I enjoyed talking to my own boyfriend. I compare them way more often than I should, considering one is off limits and one is already dating me.”

“Aw, sweetie. Maybe this girl knows you’re in a monogamous relationship,” Alya pointed to Marinette’s head, “but this girl doesn’t,” and then pointed to her crotch.

“ALYA!” Marinette screeched, covering her crotch with her hand and plate, flinging her cake onto the bed at the same time. “Oh, geez, I’m so clumsy, I’m sorry.” She went to get the cake while Alya laughed maniacally. 

“Sorry not sorry, Mari! Gotta drop the gospel truth sometimes!” She laughed again, finally wiping away a tear. “But maybe what you were saying about the Andres’ Ice Cream day was right. Maybe the reason you let yourself date Luka even if you weren’t 100% sold that he was your only companion is because you were just sick of the one-sided thing. I sure was sick of seeing you unhappy, so I bet you felt the same.” 

Alya grabbed Marinette’s knee. She continued, “You know I just want you to be happy, right? I believe there’s more than one soulmate for everyone out there. Maybe you met two possible soulmates in your collège days. You  _ can _ like more than one person at once, and they  _ can _ both be right for you.” She shrugged. “Or maybe not. Maybe you won’t work out with Luka. And Marinette, that’s okay, too. Summer flings are totally a thing. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t stay together, if you really feel as unsatisfied as you seem tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s  _ not _ the end of the world,” Marinette mumbled. “My life would pretty much go on the same.” She started thinking about Chat Noir and what Alya had said earlier. “Maybe that’s why your dream team isn’t together. Can you imagine how bad it would be if Chat Noir and Ladybug broke up??”

Alya gasped and covered Marinette’s mouth with her hands. “Don’t speak those  _ quimbois[13] _ in this place!”

“Alright, alright,” Marinette laughed, peeling Alya’s hands away. “I won’t. I’ll focus on my relationship instead.”

“Good idea. What did you mean, you’ve ran out of things to talk about anyway?”

Marinette looked out Alya’s window, stalling to try to figure out how to say this. “We live such different lives, you know? And there’s parts of my life that I can’t tell him about. Like, um…Adrien. All those shenanigans we’ve gotten up to with Adrien? I can’t tell him about those. Or things from school! He’s not in collège. He wouldn’t understand. We have different friends, we have different lives. I want to talk about that stuff, you know?”

“So, talk to me! Nino and I don’t have  _ everything _ in common. It’s nice to have different things to do that are just yours. Otherwise, we would smother each other. He has his DJ’ing, I have my blog. Stuff like that. And I can talk to you, and he can talk to Adrien. You know you can talk to me about anything, Marinette.”

_ Almost anything, _ she corrected bitterly in her head. Clearly, this conversation was not giving her the clarity she needed. Would she always feel alone with the people she dated? How was she supposed to bear this? Marinette glanced at Alya. There was concern written all over her best friend’s face. Alya was the best friend Marinette had and wasn’t about to drop this until she was certain Marinette felt better. “You’re right. Maybe there’s more to us than I was thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And if it doesn’t work out,  _ tant pis[14] _ . Life goes on.” 

“Atta girl, Marinette! Plus, if you end things on a good note before he shoves off to become a famous rock star in England or California, you can bring me along to his concerts for free, right?”

“Of course I would!”

“Good. Because I am  _ not _ wasting a good opportunity like that!”

The two began to discuss music and soon, Alya was pulling up old American music videos she liked. They tried to sing along and danced along as well. The two almost collapsed laughing over their attempts to dance along with ‘Uptown Funk’.

Once their energy was spent, they looked at the successful #LadyBlogHérosDuJour contributions with more English music droning unintelligibly in the background. Marinette’s heart filled with warmth at how much good she, Chat, and Alya had inspired in Paris. People posted selfies helping people cross streets, pictures of litter they cleaned up, pictures with friends with moving captions about helping one another, hospital visits, shared meals with neighbors, and so much more. They recognized a few friends- Nino, of course. Mylène. Rose. And Adrien, who had posted at least three times. (That made Marinette’s heart twitter a little...she even admitted it to Alya.) With every picture, especially the ones with no faces, she wondered which one was posted by Chat. What good deeds did he do during the day that didn’t need a supersuit?

The hashtag had 1,032 contributions, an impressive number for something so last minute. Eventually they got tired of looking through them, so Alya went to get her fingernail polish. As she bent over to pull the box out from under her bed, Alya’s pajama shirt rode up just slightly. Marinette could see something she assumed to be a bruise poking out from under the shirt on her lower back. “Alya, what’s that?” she asked, pointing.

“What?” Alya asked, spinning around looking on the floor. “Did I spill any?”

“No, on your back. It looks like a bruise. Are you okay?”

Alya frowned and felt her back, then split into a grin. “Oh,  _ that _ . Yes, I’m okay. I’m more than okay.” She was smiling as she pulled out the paints, set them out, then pulled her shirt up enough for Marinette to see the sore entirely. It was a bruise, perfectly round, with little red marks dotting its circumference. She had seen her share of bruises- the Ladybug suit didn’t block everything, but more importantly, it didn’t stop Marinette from being clumsy outside the suit. But nothing like this had ever shown up on Marinette’s body. “Isn’t it a pretty one?” Alya gushed. She pulled her shirt down and immediately started painting her nails.

“A pretty bruise?” Marinette asked. Then, she realized, she  _ had _ seen bruises like that. But not on herself. Alya was always proud to show off a new one, but usually it was in the girl’s locker room before Marinette let her borrow a scarf, or they applied heavy coats of makeup, or… “is that a  _ hickey _ on your  _ back?! _ ”

“Sure is!” Alya replied. She was positively beaming. “I’ve got three today, actually, but that one’s the best.” Alya picked out an orange color for her nails with white set aside, probably for the tips. Marinette smiled-  _ Rena Rouge. _ “It doesn’t feel at all like getting them on your neck. It hurts a little more, but  _ god _ , it still feels good. We were trying something new. Besides, I don’t want to have to wear scarves in summer, and you know how hard it is to get rid of those things.”

“Yeah, especially when you forget your coverup and you have to use  _ my _ foundation,” Marinette laughed.

Alya remembered the day she’d wandered around with a suspiciously pale neck. She threw back her head and laughed. “You’re right! But I meant for you,” she smiled. “I mean you haven’t  _ told _ me, or sent me any  _ pictures _ , but you and Luka have been dating for a little while now, so-”

Marinette blushed at even the thought. “Oh, we haven’t...we haven’t gotten that far, or tried that.”

Alya looked up from her fingernails. “Really? You’re not Luka’s first girlfriend, right? I would have thought he’d be a bit more...um...impatient?”

Shifting uncomfortably, Marinette said, “No, he’s very patient. He lets me set the pace. We just, um...haven’t done anything more than kissing.”

“With tongue, at least,” Alya stated. It wasn’t a question. Marinette had called her the night after their first tongue kiss, freaking out at how weird it felt and how she didn’t like it.

“Just the one time,” Marinette confessed.

Alya stared at her. A drop of paint fell onto the towel under her hands. “ _ Really _ ?”

“I told you, I didn’t like it.”

“And I told you, it’s always weird the first time, but it gets so much better. You didn’t try again?”

“I didn’t...want to.”

Alya sat back. She opened her mouth and shut it again. Finally with a raise of both eyebrows and a sigh, she said, “Okay, girl. I think maybe you might be right that there aren’t wedding bells any time soon.”

“Because I don’t like tongue kissing?”

“Because you don’t  _ want _ to,” Alya said. She looked back at her hands, now starting to paint her right hand. “From what you’ve told me, you haven’t gotten handsy, you haven’t tried anything besides kissing and making out... _ without _ tongue...and it seems like you don’t even want to. I think your compass might be pointing in a different direction after all.”

Marinette sat quietly. Was she right? Was Marinette broken? Or was it just she and Luka that were? She had definitely thought about making out before...it just didn’t appeal with her boyfriend right now. Alya looked up. Apparently, the discomfort in Marinette’s face was easy to read, because her best friend quickly steered the conversation differently. “Hey, girl. Don’t worry about it. This way you don’t even have to worry about covering up hickeys, right? It’s not all bad. I mean, Nino and I have to get real creative to hide things,” she gestured towards her back.

“And you still have to hide that,” Marinette agreed.

“What, I just wear a shirt,” Alya replied with a shrug.

“A shirt?” Marinette smirked. “You’re going  _ swimming _ tomorrow.”

Alya scrunched her face in frustration, “Ah,  _ putain[15] _ , you’re right. Ugh. Would you text Nino for me?” she waved her wet nails in the air. “I can’t text right now.”

“Fine,” Marinette sighed dramatically. She was smiling, though. Marinette would much rather help her best friend with her perfect relationship then think about her imperfect one. “What am I saying?”

“Say, ‘damn you Nino, I have to go swimming tomorrow. Now I have to wear my ugly one piece.’. Then separate text, shark emoji, kiss mark emoji- make sure it’s the mark, not the kissy face- and angry face emoji.”

Marinette sent accordingly. She had a reply almost immediately and read it out loud. “He says, ‘oh shoot, I forgot. Sorry dou-dou. Can I make it up to you tomorrow?’ With...um...kangaroo emojis?”

“A kangaroo?” Alya asked, hurrying to look at the phone. She laughed. He had actually sent  _ three _ kangaroo emojis. “Damn Boy, okay!”

“What does a kangaroo emoji mean?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Alya teased. She sat back down, waving her left hand dry as her right hand prepped the white for the nail tips. “Text back and say: ‘Already? Boy you are water droplet emoji and tongue emoji.’ Just the tongue, not the tongue-face.”

Marinette made a face at her best friend. “You’re telling him he’s thirsty, aren’t you?”

Alya smirked back. “More or less. Maybe a little more.”

“Alya, am I typing gross stuff?!”

She laughed. “Now I  _ know _ you’re not lying that you and Luka are still just kissing. This isn’t gross. Just send the text, please.”

Grumbling, Marinette obeyed. She was honestly a little concerned at what the grey dots would reveal when Nino’s reply came in. “He says, ‘for you baby, always.’ Well that’s kind of cute! Oh, there’s another one. Um… ‘Want me another slice of that...birthday cake emoji.’” Marinette glared at Alya. “I don’t know what the heck that’s supposed to mean, but I’m pretty sure I’m sexting your boyfriend for you.”

“It’s because I’m the birthday girl,” Alya replied happily. It was unclear if she was excusing making Marinette do her dirty work or explaining the emoji. Probably both. “But this  _ isn’t _ sexting. Trust me. Text back-”

“Wait, he’s saying something else….” Marinette read the text to herself before reading it out loud.  _ Je peux te boire pour tout l'année, ne pas que ton anniversaire. Je me demande- après le piscine, tu vas gouter different? Eh bien, quelle horreur, je dois bouffer la chatte à voir.[16] _ “Oh my god!” Marinette squealed. She threw the phone away from herself and towards Alya, the text too vulgar to read out loud.

“Geez, what did he send? A dick pic?” Alya laughed. She carefully tapped her phone without getting nail polish on it. Even Alya flushed a little darker when she read the message. “Wow, okay, maybe he is sexting tonight.”

“Ya think?!”

She looked way too proud to care about Marinette’s flushed face. “Hey, I’m not going to apologize for a healthy, happy relationship and having a man who knows how to please.” She beamed. “But I will apologize you had to read that.” She pushed the phone back to Marinette. “Can you tell him he’s in trouble because you’re here tonight and you’ve been texting for me?”

“Yes, I can,” Marinette huffed. She sent off a message accordingly, still texting in Alya’s voice, and got a very quick reply. “He says...oh, dear god. He said ‘Are you going to punish me?’ I’m replying that it’s still me.” She angrily tapped out  _ C’EST MARINETTE ENCORE!!!!!!!! [16] _ And put the phone aside. Alya was still getting over her laughter. Marinette pulled out her own choice of nail polish colors- pink, as usual. “I’m not texting your horny boyfriend anymore.”

“That’s fair,” Alya laughed. They were quiet for a moment.

“What did the kangaroo mean?” Marinette asked. That made Alya break into pealing laughter again.

“You know how Americans call tongue kissing ‘a french kiss’? Well, where are Kangaroos from?”

“Um...Australia?”

“Yeah. And what do Australians call Australia?  _ Down Under _ . So it’s like a ‘French kiss’, but…”

“ _ Gross _ , Alya.”

“It’s really not,” Alya laughed. “I promise, once you try it, your  _ chatte[17] _ won’t think it’s gross.” Marinette made a face at Alya in response. But her mind immediately jumped to her Chat- the masculine noun, not the feminine noun. She was very, very glad Chat Noir had never used  _ that _ particular cat pun.

As Marinette and Alya finished their nails, the girls turned on a movie, then talked more. Not about boys this time, but about almost everything else. Alya and Marinette had entirely different opinions of  _ Miss Congeniality _ , to start. From there, they started to talk about the upcoming school year. Marinette confided that she wasn’t scared to go to lycée  because she knew she had her superhero with her. When Alya realized Marinette meant  _ Alya _ , the birthday girl started to cry.

“Okay, if you’re crying, we know it’s late,” Marinette said. “Let’s go to bed.”

“No, I’m sorry I’m crying! You’re just my best friend and you’re so nice to me.” Alya sniffed loudly. “You deserve to be so damn happy, Marinette.  _ Merde _ ,[18] if you ain’t happy right now, dump that boy’s ass and I’ll take care of you forever until we find some beau gosse[19] who  _ really _ deserves you and- and- and- can make you happy. You’re a goddamn superhero, Marinette! Not me, it’s you!”

“Me?” Marinette asked, now a little emotional herself. Marinette, not Ladybug, was the superhero? She felt Tikki flutter again, which frankly just made her even more choked up.

“Uh huh. Nobody is nicer or kinder or saves more people from bitches like Chloé than you. Superheroes are like a bad date, they’re like, hit it and quit it, and then you don’t see them again. And like SURE I know they have their ‘secret identities’ or what the hell ever but a cup of tea at l’heure de goûter would be nice sometimes! Not you, though! You’re always there to talk and make real, true friends. I bet you’ve stopped like 2,000 akumas before they could happen, just by being so fuckin’ friendly all the time.  Not even Bladylug and Cha- oh my god did I say Bladylug?”

Marinette was already laughing. She wiped the tear off her cheek and hugged Alya. “Yeah, you did.”

“Okay, maybe I am sleepy.”

“Let’s go, birthday girl.”

“Let’s go, superhero.”

Marinette hugged her best friend tightly. Her strained relationship didn’t seem to matter as much. Tonight, running on chocolate cake and way too much coca cola, Marinette didn’t feel lonely at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Manman: _Martinique Creole_ : Mom. "Maman" (the French) is pronounced similar to "maa-maw", wheras "manman" is more like "maw-maw"
> 
> 2 dou-dou: Term of endearment. I don't always define terms of endearment, but THIS one is specifically Creole and has leaked into mainstream French culture, too. (It's also what a lot of little kids call their stuffed animals.)
> 
> 3 Rebonjour: "Hello again". It is VERY important to say 'Bonour' whenever you enter a home, business, bus, etc. If you've already seen the person once that day (Mme Césaire was at the party), you say 'rebonjour'.
> 
> 4 Poté mannèv: _Martinique Creole:_ Hurry up
> 
> 5 Albert Londres Prize: French version of the Pulitzer Prize, specifically for journalism.
> 
> 6 kribich/crevettes: Creole and French for "Shrimp". A LOT of creole words sound like French, but with a different accent. Marinette could probably understand most of it just fine. Some likely come from their French translation (like this one) but are far enough she wouldn't get it, even after hanging out at their house often.
> 
> 7"Arrêtez de faire les bêtises": Best translation is 'Stop messing around', but literally means 'stop making silliness'. But I couldn't bring myself to translate this, because nothing is scarier than a French mom hissing that exact phrase...and you hear it a lot. French kids are expected to be very mature at all times and silliness at the dinner table is the Ultimate No-No. 
> 
> 8Souplé: _Martinique Creole:_ "Please." Comes from the french "S'il vous plaît" 
> 
> 9Woy: _Martinique Creole:_ Interjection for extreme emotion. Like "wow", "geez", "yikes"....
> 
> 10Mwen emmen’w: _Martinique Creole:_ I love you
> 
> 11petite pétasse: Actually translates to "Little bimbo", but pétasse leans more on the whoreish attitude than being an airhead. Used pretty casually by kids their age nowadays, like how kids use "bitch". The use of "petite" would also soften the blow.
> 
> 12Voilà!: "Here it is!" The French really do use this expression a lot, especially when presenting something. You may see English-speakers write it as "wah-la!"
> 
> 13quimbois: _Martinique Creole:_ Black magic, superstitions, etc. There's a BIG culture of superstition in Martinique, although a lot of it is under heavy Catholicism. We also saw that with Mme Césaire crossing herself when the twins brought up the Sapotis.
> 
> 14tant pis: "too bad", but in the "who cares" sense. Sometimes even used for "Never mind" 
> 
> 15putain: "Fuck". And it's just as flexible a word in French as in English.
> 
> 16"Je peux te boire pour tout l'année, ne pas que ton anniversaire. Je me demande- après le piscine, tu vas gouter different? Eh bien, quelle horreur, je dois bouffer la chatte à voir.": ACTUALLY I can't translate this unless I want to change my rating to M. All you need to know is he wants to go down on Alya. And he talks about her going to the pool.
> 
> 16"C’EST MARINETTE ENCORE!!!!!!!!": IT'S STILL MARINETTE!!!!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> 17chatte: Literally, female cat. (Boy cat=chat. Girl cat=chatte.) Colloquially, pussy. You know how in English "pussy" can mean a pussy-cat or a...ahem. WELL, same thing in French! I think we can all be glad that Chat Noir is a boy now.
> 
> 18Merde: "Shit" and a very very popular French swear.
> 
> 19beau gosse: hottie (male)


	7. Chasing Trains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hit 50 comments! Okay now I know almost half of those are just me replying...but it's a nice number, doncha think? Every reaction to this story makes my day. :) 
> 
> This is an action-y chapter, which means not nearly as many end notes as last time. Let me know what you think!

Dank, subway tunnel air whizzed through Chat Noir’s hairs and his leather ears flipped backwards. He was gripping the top of a speeding train as tight as possible, gritting his teeth and praying Ladybug was having more luck than him.

Rentrée, the first day of school, had been just four days ago. Adrien had been walking to get lunch with Nino when he heard sirens and felt Plagg grab his shirt and three minutes later, he was straddling a wild subway with Ladybug bouncing around with her yo-yo trying to slow the behemoth down. _Can’t even finish a week of school without some disaster_ , he thought. 

Ladybug swore loudly and her yo-yo went flying out of her hand and backwards. Chat’s instincts moved him so quickly, he swore he saw and felt everything slow down. He leapt up, pouncing at the flying red disc, and brought it back down to the roof of the subway car. Fortunately, he’d caught the yo-yo. Unfortunately, his jump had cost him 3 meters of distance and he was now hanging on for dear life to the edge of the subway car. His legs dangled dangerously between this car and the next as Chat’s arms scrambled to find purchase. And with Ladybug’s yo-yo in his hand, she couldn’t exactly lasso him back up.

“Chat!” Ladybug screamed. She ran across the roof of the speeding car and laid down to grab his arms. First, though, Chat threw her yo-yo at her head. It bounced off of Ladybug’s forehead and clattered in between her arms. “Chaton, your  _ life _ first, yo-yo  _ second _ !” She gripped his arms and pulled.

Ladybug used her entire body’s momentum to yank Chat up, his body falling on top of hers. Chat’s face was an inch from Ladybug’s and if it wasn’t so close, he might not have seen the relief flash in her eyes before her focus returned. Chat crawled off of her, grabbing his baton. “I have an idea. I saw the coupler between the cars- I’m putting this there!”

“Sure,” Ladybug said, looking around for a plan B. This was a very time-sensitive mission, as the screams below them reminded both heroes.

Chat spun his baton and it magically extended. He thrust it down into the connection of the subway train. The car rocked backwards, wheels screaming against the track. They kept moving forward, but slower, and tipping back and forth. “It’s working!” He yelled in delight. Then with a low, loud groan and an even louder metallic ringing noise, the baton broke the connection between the subway cars. It stuck solidly into the ground and took Chat with it, flinging him way, way farther into the tunnel.

Chat screamed wildly as he flew, trying to keep sight of Ladybug- his source of confidence. Her red suit was easy to see until the runaway car she was on disappeared into the dark. Chat looked down below him at the long subway train, now stopped dead on the track, getting closer and closer as he fell lower and lower. He braced himself for impact and landed, claws skidding along the metal painfully. He swung his body over to look into the subway car window and saw the metro passengers absolutely freaking out. “Good news is we found the brakes! Bad news is I also found that it breaks! But don’t worry, we’ve got luck ahead of us!”

Chat didn’t know if they heard him. Frankly, most of his puns were for his own benefit, not anyone else’s anyway. Nothing could be too bad if you could make a joke out of it, right? He scampered on all fours to the front of the stopped cars. Chat pulled his baton out to call Ladybug, who picked up immediately.

“You’re okay!” Ladybug gushed.

“Sure am, but I hate this long distance relationship we’re in.”

“I’m planning to close the gap. I’ve got an idea! But I need you to put the baton back where you had it the first time. In the ground, through the coupler for your side of the train.”

“Oui, Chef! [1] Over and out!” Chat hung up since the baton couldn’t function as a phone and a staff at the same time. He planted it firmly and not a moment too soon- just barely over the roar of the train and squeal of its tires ahead of them, he heard Ladybug’s yo-yo zipping to them.

The yo-yo wrapped itself once, twice, thrice...a lot of times around the top of Chat’s staff. He reached a hand into his pocket to grip his Marinette lucky charm, totally unable to see or do anything to help, but so glad that Ladybug had enough luck to make a throw like she did. He heard the train ahead squeal even louder, this time punctuated with loud thuds. 

While Chat tried to decipher the new noise, a red wire coat hanger with black dots slid along the yo-yo string and to the end of his baton. He smiled to himself. His Lady’s lucky charm. Which looked like it might be meant for him!

Chat gulped. He squeezed the Marinette lucky charm one more time before zipping his pocket. With a running jump and a scream, he caught the hanger and rode it all the way back like a zip-line. Chat screamed almost the entire time until he crashed smack into the back of the train. He weakly grabbed the emergency exit door and regained some of his position. Enough to make sense of what was going on. 

The yo-yo string continued through the window of the emergency exit, but then it went out a side window...back in the other side window...and out the other side window again. Ladybug had wrapped it around the car and was using it to reel the wild car closer to the stuck ones and slow it down. But the string was slowly cutting into the metal of the subway and threatened to take off its roof.

Chat climbed up to the roof and found Ladybug pulling and gritting her teeth. Her eyes lit up when she saw Chat. “It worked! You made it!”

“I’m a hanger-onner, you know that!”

“Great. Chat, I need you to go to the front wheel and use your Cataclysm.”

“Are you sure? There’s no akuma! What about your rule?”

“Chat Noir,” Ladybug groaned, “This subway is already broken. We have ninety seconds before the track is supposed to turn and all these people die. Break the stupid wheels!”

Chat didn’t ask again. He ran closer to position and screamed out for a Cataclysm. Carefully, as he only had his feet and one claw to use, he climbed down towards the front of the car. The whooshing was much worse here, continually pushing Chat against the train. He was terrified his bubbling black hand would touch the wrong part of the train as it waved perilously in front of him. And what if the wrong hand touched the wheel? Chat would be pulled by the momentum and flattened in an instant. He closed his eyes to refocus. This wasn’t a time for fear. What would Ladybug say? What would she do?  _ She’d stick to the plan- jump first and ask questions later. _ Chat’s bubbling black hand reached out and grabbed the front wheel.

It was hot and painful, but the wheel and its entire axle quickly turned to rust and crumpled under his touch. He quickly pulled his hand away and gripped tight as the subway car fell heavily on to its front end and stopped moving. It lurched forward about four meters from its own momentum and nearly flung Chat again. He could hear the shrieks of the passengers as they toppled against one another. 

After a few seconds, he felt the train car moving backwards. He heard it first, screeching and screaming as the car worked towards its abandoned partners. Chat climbed back up the car and ran to where Ladybut sat, reeling in her yo-yo like a fisherman with his biggest catch. Wearing their miraculous gave them both far more strength than normal, but clearly his Lady was at her limit. Ladybug had sweat pouring down her face and Chat could see her trembling arms. She turned around to face him. The car had stopped moving in either direction, as she had stopped pulling. Ladybug stood up and Chat could see her arms shaking. He ran to hug her. “It looks like you need a  _ brake _ , My Lady.”

“I’m gonna try cleaning this mess up,” Ladybug told him. Hands still shaking, she pulled her yo-yo in a different angle and had to yank twice before it whirled back towards her. Chat’s baton went flying over their heads so he took after it like he had earlier with her yo-yo. Once he had pounced on his weapon, Ladybug had the hanger in hand and was tossing it up the very limited space above their heads. She shouted, “Miraculous Ladybug!” as if this was a normal akuma attack. Could that work in such a small space?

Apparently it could, Chat saw, as millions of ladybug-colored bubbles exploded around them. They wrapped up the stuck car and wrapped up the front car, depositing the subway train right where Ladybug and Chat Noir had stopped it, now fully repaired. 

Ladybug was clearly relieved it worked. “Bien Joué!” she and Chat cheered. 

Chat Noir glanced at his three-toed miraculous. She probably had one minute less than he. “We have enough time to help some of these scared passengers. Interested?” He knew she would be. Helping the victims was Ladybug’s favorite part.

They hopped down and Ladybug swung the doors open. Chat ran to find her a conductor’s microphone so the whole train could hear at once. “Sorry about the thrill ride, folks. Your train has been repaired, and it looks like we are pulled in to the station. The good news is if you were trying to get to Pont Gargliano, we made it here 14 minutes early!”

Chat nudged a stranger next to him. “And we’re all alive. That’s good news too, doncha think?”

Ladybug finished her quick speech, adding something about public transportation safety and encouraging them to ride the metro again, not letting this deter them. The doors of the train opened when she finished. Frantically, everyone flooded out of the cars, desperate to get out of the death trap. 

Chat and Ladybug stood by the door, shaking the hands of passengers as they left. One passenger had her phone in front of her face to record and a familiar handbag on her hip. 

“Hey! Aly-uuuuh... Ladyblog girl!” Chat called so she would hear him over the din. Alya spun to look at Chat. He grinned and beckoned her over, effectively ignoring his side of the passengers. Alya came close enough to chat. “That is one meow-velous handbag. Is it a Ladybug mask?”

Alya grinned. She lifted it with her free hand to show Chat Noir. “Sure is! My very talented friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng made it for me!”

“Me-wow!” Chat said. He picked it up, trying to act like it was the first time he saw it. He had wanted to compare it to Ladybug’s real mask since the party and now was his chance. “Ladybug! Come here!”

“Chat,” she yelled over the heads of the passengers, “I’m kind of busy.”

“But you gotta see this cool bag! It looks like you! I wanna see if the spots line up and everything!”

Ladybug looked over. Her eyes went from Alya, to Alya’s phone, to Chat, to the handbag he was waving. She looked firmly. “Uh...I’m busy thanking these people for their bravery, Chat. I’m sure it’s really cool!”

Chat turned back to Alya and her phone “thanking them for their bravery? I think they’re thanking her!”

Alya grinned at him. “I think you’re right, my man. Thank you too, by the way!” She took the bag back. “Were you scared the train wouldn’t stop?”

“Aw, please. These good looks can make anything stop in their  _ tracks _ . What do they say about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object? That’s what you saw today, mademoiselle.” He grinned at Alya’s camera. Playing to the camera as Chat was different than as Adrien. Adrien was supposed to be brooding and thoughtful as he modeled. Alya’s camera just wanted Chat to be Chat. 

Now that danger was passed, Adrien could just be Chat Noir, he could just be excited and happy again. “You know, today is our anniversary!”

“Your anniversary?! Of what?”

“The first time Ladybug and I met! The first time we fought together.”

“Ohhh...Stoneheart!”

“I think it’s very apropro that our first Akuma was just  _ lovestruck _ , don’t you?” He winked at Alya and stared wistfully at Ladybug. She was clearly stealing glances at him and Alya, but not coming over herself. “That Miraculous Ladybug has really learned how to fly since then,” Chat practically purred. Then he looked back to Alya with a toothy grin. “I think you have somewhere to be. It’s the week of rentrée scolaire,[2] isn’t it?” He shook her hand. “See ya!”

Alya waved goodbye and headed out of the station, likely following his advice and figuring out a way to get back to the school before the afternoon classes began. Most of the passengers were off by now. Chat was ready to bound away when Ladybug called his name. Obediently, to her side he went. 

“I know we’re about to detransform,” she said, “but I want to talk to you.”

“Anything, My Lady! What is on your mind?”

Ladybug bit her lip. “Does keeping our secrets keep you from...deepening your relationships?”

“Uh…” How was he supposed to answer that? “It sure would be easier to deepen this one if I wasn’t keeping my secret from you, that’s for sure.”

“Not this one. Your civilian ones.”

“Like my friends?”

“Sure...or your, um, girl friends?”

Chat narrowed his eyes cautiously. “My girlfriends? Like romantic relationships?”

“Yeah,” Ladybug said nervously. “How do you connect with girls when you’ve got such a big secret?”

“Ladybug, are  _ you _ asking  _ me _ for advice with your romantic endeavors? With Some Other Boy??” Chat asked coldly. He could feel his good mood dissipate by the second. 

“No! I mean, kind of?”

“Well, tough luck, bug. You know I don’t have feelings for anyone but you! So I wouldn’t know, would I?!” He poked her shoulder a little roughly. Ladybug looked hurt, but whatever! Adrien was hurt too! “I’m not about to give you advice on how to deepen your relationship with your boyfriend. And don’t keep pretending you don’t have one. I know you do.”

That was a lie. He just suspected she did. But the way Ladybug looked away from him sheepishly was all the confirmation Chat needed. He felt heart squeeze so tight, it hurt his chest. Yet another secret Ladybug didn’t trust him with.

“Chat, I don’t have anyone to talk to about this-”

“You’re right,” Chat said, forcing back tears, “you don’t. Because you sure as hell shouldn’t be talking to  _ me _ about this. Do you know how hard it is for me to...to keep going with you? Knowing what I feel is completely unrequited and that you know and just don’t care?”

Ladybug reached out to hold Chat. She clearly looked upset in a wide variety of ways. “Chaton, yes, I-”

“ _ No! _ ” Chat snapped, slapping her arms away. “You don’t get to reject me, break my heart, rub my face in it, ask for  _ help _ , and then call me your kitten. I have to go before I detransform. Not that you’ll care I’ve left.”

“Chat, let’s recharge our kwamis and then let’s talk again!”

Chat was already on his way to the staircase. He yelled back, “No, because I have to go to school. To learn. You should probably go to school, too. Someone can teach you  _ human decency _ .”

Chat races up the stairs and dropped his transformation as soon as possible. Even if he wasn’t going to detransform anyway, he couldn’t bear Ladybug cornering Chat Noir again. 

Adrien slumped against a building wall and sniffled. Plagg peeked out from his jacket. “So...some Camembert?”

“Was I too harsh on her?” Adrien asked as he wiped his eyes. 

“Absolutely. Some Camembert?”

“I was?!”

“She only wanted advice on something you and she have in common. It’s not like there are other full time secret superheroes going through puberty running around this city.” Plagg shrugged. “But I bet I’d be on your side again after some cheese.”

“She knows I like her, though. By now I bet she knows I  _ love  _ her.”

“Blech.”

“It’s not fair...it’s not fair to talk to me about her Some Other Boy.”

“I have no pity for the teenager who starves me,” Plagg said, crossing his tiny arms. 

“Fine. I need to grab a lunch, too. I’ll need your energy to transform back soon anyway.”

“That’s ridiculous! Why?! I thought you would want to avoid the love of your life?”

“Not to talk to her,” Adrien spat. “So I can get back to class on time.”

“And why would you want to do that?” Plagg asked. Adrien ignored him and went into the nearest café. He got a quiche to go for himself and two ounces of Camembert for Plagg. They each began to eat.

“I can’t believe her,” Adrien muttered. “Doesn’t she know I already feel alone?”

“I think that’s the point,” Plagg said. “Ladybug probably feels alone, too.”

“Didn’t you say you’d be on my side after I fed you?”

“Oh, right.” Plagg swallowed his last bit of cheese. “You’re definitely the only one who feels alone. It’s super unfair that she tried to talk to you and tried to actually have a deep connection with her best friend. You’ll never find out if you love each other if you talk about things like how hard it is to date civilians and actual feelings,” Plagg droned sarcastically. 

For Adrien, Plagg’s sarcastic voice was so similar to his regular voice, it was way too easy to just pretend his Kwami was serious. “Thank you, Plagg.”

“Yep, I don’t have millenniums of experience with lovesick superheroes for nothing,” he grumbled in the same voice. 

 

—-

 

Adrien returned to school just on time, thanks only to his transformation. He was still swallowing the last of his lunch as he pushed through students, up the stairs and down the hall to the Chemistry lab. His mind still replayed his last conversation with Ladybug- her insensitivity, what he said, what maybe he  _ shouldn’t _ have said...his brain took him into the lab on autopilot, since Adrien’s mind was still in the metro tunnel.

Monsieur Jackson greeted him and the other almost late students, Adrien muttering his response before he shuffled over to his lab station. Alya, his lab partner, was already waiting. She smiled and waved, clearly in a good mood.  _ That makes one of us _ . Once he found his place, they listened to M. Jackson give a quick introduction to the day before releasing the students to continue their experiment process.

Alya bent her fingers backwards and put on a sly grin. “Alright, day two. You ready to make some elements, partner?”

_ Partner _ . As if he had any partners who really cared about him. “Sure.” Adrien’s response fell flat on the tile and triggered a frown on Alya’s face.

“Just ‘sure’? When we got this assignment, you were nerding out to me for the entire class. You made our hypothesis  _ rhyme _ because you were so excited.”

With practiced ease, Adrien let a smooth, fake smile cover his downtrodden expression. “I am excited. So let’s get started.” He pulled their packet out of their station’s folder and started for the safety supply drawer. Alya was close behind. She was tuttering and he was determined to avoid her eye. 

Alya spoke as she tied her hair up in a ponytail with some effort. “Did you get all your homework done for Chem?”

“Yep.”

The hairband snapped, Alya swore, and then she tried a little gentler with her second. “Worthless thing. You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with long hair. How long did the intro worksheet take you? I haven’t started yet, since Monsieur’s not grading until next week.”

“About twenty minutes.”

"Ugh. It should be illegal to give homework in the first week of school," Alya grumbled. Adrien didn't reply. Instead, he simply grabbed his safety goggles and gloves, noticing how Alya was staring him down, frowning slightly. She tried yet again to get him to speak. “Did you have a good lunch, Adrien?”

“Quiche,” Adrien replied.  _ Quiche and heartbreak, both served cold. _

“I was supposed to meet up with Marinette, but she never showed. Probably because I was late... did you hear about the metro-gone-wild during lunch today?” Alya asked, pulling on her own gloves.

“Yeah.”

“I was on it! Talk about your luck, right? And I really do mean luck. Ladybug saved the day, of course.”

“Yep, she’s good at that,” Adrien agreed through gritted teeth. _Good at saving the day and being insensitive._  

He could feel Alya’s eyes on his back, but Adrien didn’t want to turn around and face her. Alya sometimes had the ability to look at you like she knew all your secrets and Adrien had one too many to risk meeting that look. Still, she pushed on. “Chat Noir, too. He likes my purse! The one you got excited about at my birthday party? I’m excited to show Marinette the video. I just wish Ladybug had taken a look at it…”

Adrien scoffed. He pulled his gloves on tight and finally turned around. “So where did we leave off?”

“You were scoffing at Ladybug?” Alya replied, one eyebrow raised. 

“No, I mean in our experiment. And I wasn’t scoffing  _ at  _ her, just…” he waved a hand. “Just drop it.”

“Woy. What is wrong with you today, Adrien? What cloud passed in front of our Monsieur Sunshine?”

Adrien tried his best to look confused. “What? Nothing! I’m fine, Alya! I just really want to…” he looked at the chemistry worksheet and read off the experiment description. It really  _ had  _ interested him the day before and was a great introduction to their new class. “‘Form Hydrogen gas as the metal reacts with the acid to form a salt’. Ideally before Alix makes something explode and class has to evacuate.”

“Not buying it. Something is bothering you. Come on, Agreste. You can tell me!”

“Alya, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. If it was nothing, you’d be all smiles and would have made three hydrogen jokes already. Just...pretend I’m Nino! Here, one minute.” Alya grabbed a pair of safety goggles, putting them around her neck. She rolled her shoulders backwards and spread out her stance, tilted her head up just slightly and lowered her eyelids, then put on a half-smile unlike any she ever used. “Hey, man,” she said, throwing her voice to sound raspier, more masculine. “I like music and my baseball hat, but I like you more. You’re the music in my life, Adrien my dude. I can’t stand to see my music in the blues. What’s wrong, yo?”

She did it. She broke him enough to laugh and shake his head. “That’s creepy, Alya. You’re too good at that.”

Momentarily, Alya snapped to her regular posture. “Thanks! Dating him, I pick up a thing or two. You should see  _ his  _ impression of me blogging. Anyway….” she slumped back to ‘Nino’ mode. “Tell me what’s up, dude?”

Adrien chuckled again. He shook his head and grabbed his own safety gear. It wasn’t like he could tell Alya  _ or  _ Nino what was going on. Adrien needed...no,  _ Chat Noir _ needed a friend. A listener. Someone he can trust, who already knows why this would bother him. Someone…

“Mademoiselle Césaire! Your safety goggles need to go on your  _ eyes _ , not around your neck. They’re not a necklace.”

Alya shouted an apology at Monsieur Jackson, then turned back to Adrien with a smirk. “He’s right, they’re not a necklace. They’re headphones.” She winked, earning a small chuckle, before she pulled them up and under her bushy red ponytail to rest over her regular glasses. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s not something I can talk about. But it will pass, Alya.” He sighed, flipping to the page where they’d left off last class. “It always does.”

“You’re a dramatic little pleurnichard.[3] You know that?” She rolled her eyes and seemed to get that Adrien was done talking about this. She pulled out their supplies, read the instructions over Adrien’s shoulder, and started to work. As she poured the first substance, Alya said one last time, softer, “You’ve got friends, you know. Friends who want to listen to you. Friends you can trust. Nino, me, Marinette...you count Chloé, don’t you? So her, I guess,” she scrunched her face as if in disgust at the very name.

“She’s really not that bad when she isn’t trying to get everyone’s attention,” Adrien promised. “If you spent more time with her, you’d see that.”

“Let’s pray I don’t have to find out. I’m just saying...when you met Nino, Mari, and me, you upgraded. ” Adrien didn’t want to confess out loud, but Alya was right. “You’re not alone anymore, Adrien.”

Adrien met Alya’s concerned eyes and nodded. She was right, Chat Noir did have a friend he could talk to, someone in that very list. And maybe he would.

Maybe he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "Oui, Chef!": Used the same way we say "Aye aye, Captain!". Chef also means "Chief", by the way, so it's not necessarily a connection to the kitchen.
> 
> 2"Rentrée Scolaire": First day of school. Every kid in France starts school on the first Monday in September. So Chat can assume Alya's first day of school without giving away he attends the same one!
> 
> 3"pleurnichard": one who whines. Used to complain about someone else, typically...so basically "whiny bitch". Except you often use this with kids, too. It's not actually a swear. But it is a GREAT word!!


	8. Balcony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I take a moment to say how stinkin' smart all of you readers are?! There are really thoughtful discussions in the comments for last chapter. I love it so much! This community feeling is wonderful. Much better than writing in a vacuum. So thank you for sharing your thoughts! It's so great!!
> 
> This chapter deals with the fallout from last chapter and I don't think there's a single chapter in this story that I've edited more than this...it was hard to get it to a place where I felt good. Hopefully it's not overproduced at this point. ( It probably is. )

Marinette had felt bad all afternoon. She hadn’t meant to hurt Chat Noir’s feelings; she had just been looking for a little sympathy. Maybe some advice. She definitely wasn’t looking for a tongue lashing, making her feel even more alone and lost than when Ladybug started the conversation. Why had he snapped like that? Why had she asked him for help with her boyfriend in the first place?

She didn’t know a lot about Chat Noir. Everything she knew was superficial and unspecific, something that could apply to almost any teenage boy in Paris. That was intentional, of course. But what she did know was how similar they were in so many important ways: being a superhero had changed their lives completely. It changed their attitudes, their self-image, their bodies, and especially their relationships on every positive and negative level. So surely, Chat would understand how confused and lost she was, trying to navigate this new stage.

And she’d hurt his feelings. Again. As important Chat was to Marinette, she had a tendency to hurt him more than he deserved. Of course, he’d spun around and hurt her right back today! She spent all of English class after lunch fighting the urge to cry, worrying Rose more than her poor friend deserved. Even if Marinette could tell Rose the source of her tears, she wasn’t sure if they were for her own hurt feelings...or Chat’s. 

Thoughts like these haunted Marinette, completely possessing her attention, as she and Alya left school for the day. “Hey, so I know you’ve been ignoring me for the past ten minutes, but you’re going to love this new video I took over lunch,” Alya said, staring right at Marinette.

The staring and change in pitch caught her attention. “Huh? What did you say?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Girl? Seriously. Get your head out of the clouds! I said, I want to show you a video I took over lunch. I live streamed the runaway subway. You have a new fan! And from the comments I’ve been getting, more than just one.”

Marinette looked at Alya, confused. How did  _ Marinette _ have a new fan? Alya didn’t know she was at the runaway subway. Marinette had walked to their lunch spot, so she’d only heard about the metro incident Alya’s livestream pinged her phone. “What do you mean?”

“Here, watch.” Alya opened her phone and clicked around to her most recent Ladyblog livestream. She fast-forwarded past most of the action with her finger, narrating in complete nonchalance. “Here’s where we all freak out because we realize the train is out of control… oh see there’s Ladybug, there she is again, there’s Chat Noir’s feet through the window...blah blah blah, there’s the back of the train separating, there’s the old lady going bat-shit insane next to me...ope, that lurch is where Ladybug starts slowing the train down….there’s the crash where the wheels go out….here comes the magical cleaning up...old lady’s still freaking the fuck out...voilà!” She stopped fast-forwarding as Alya and the other passengers started leaving the train. She filmed Chat’s face as he called Alya over.

Marinette leaned in close. This time, she had no idea what was said in the recorded conversation. Chat gestured at something off-screen.  _ “That is one meow-velous handbag. Is it a Ladybug mask?” _

Alya lifted the bag to show the camera, giving it a slow pan, then turned it to show Chat Noir. _ “Sure is! My very talented friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng made it for me!” _

Real-life Alya smirked at Marinette. “Like the name dropping?”

The video continued with Chat’s commentary.  _ “Me-wow!......Ladybug! Come here!” _

Alya’s camera swiveled to find Ladybug over the heads of the passengers.  _ “Chat, I’m kind of busy.” _

Chat called back, with Alya still filming Ladybug.  _ “But you gotta see this cool bag! It looks like you! I wanna see if the spots line up and everything!”  _ A lump formed in Marinette’s throat. Chat sounded so excited and happy. And just five minutes later, they’d hurt each other so deeply.

The video showed Ladybug looking at the phone and the people standing beside it. Marinette recognized in her own eyes the moment she realized how bad of an idea that would be. She knew how accurate her own mask handbag was. So Ladybug replied, _ “Uh...I’m busy thanking these people for their bravery, Chat. I’m sure it’s really cool!” _

Chat appeared on screen, saying something Marinette hadn’t heard earlier. _ “Thanking them for their bravery? I think they’re thanking her!”  _ Marinette swallowed against the giant lump.

Alya replied _ , “I think you’re right, my man. Thank you, by the way! Were you scared the train wouldn’t stop?” _

_ “Aw, please. These good looks can make anything stop in their tracks. What do they say about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object? That’s what you saw today, mademoiselle.” _ Marinette smiled weakly, shaking her head at her silly kitty. Then he continued and nearly knocked Marinette off her feet.  _ “You know, today is our anniversary!” _

“Anniversary?!” Marinette gasped in unison with video Alya. Video Alya asked the question for Marinette, “ _ Of what?” _

_ “The first time we met! The first time we fought together.” _

Oh, la vache.[1] If there was any way to make Marinette feel absolutely more awful, this was it. Not only had she forgotten the anniversary of her first transformation, she’d hurt Chat on that same day. Pouring salt in the wound, Chat dreamily continued,  _ “I think it’s very apropro that our first Akuma was just feeling caught up in love, don’t you? That Miraculous Ladybug has really learned how to fly since then.”   _ Marinette could hear a slight purr in Chat’s throat as he complimented her. She bit her lip. Nobody had seen her growth like Chat had! Except Tikki, maybe. He really, deeply cared for her. For Chat to snap at Ladybug the way he had...

They watched Chat’a farewell and Alya closed the phone. “Ladybug would have loved your bag, too. She didn’t want to come over for whatever reason, but she would love it.”

Ohhhh, right. That’s why Alya wanted to show her this. Because Chat had complimented the bag she made. “I- I’m glad Chat Noir liked it. That’s amazing! That’s such a compliment!”

“He’d like anything to do with  _ his lady _ ,” Alya giggled. “Although I have to agree with him. It’s super great. Some of the people in the comments said they want one.”

“Really?” That thought made Marinette smile at least a little.

“Yeah. Most people were talking about Chat’s comments about Ladybug. But there’s like 10 people who are probably googling ‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng’ right now to try and get you to make them a bag.” She nudged her best friend. “To be honest, I bet Chat Noir is one of them.”

That gave Marinette an idea. “Chat Noir….Chat Noir’s met me.”

Alya blinked. “Yes, yes he has. Did you forget? I mean I know you’re forgetful, but...”

“No, I just-” Marinette paused. “Maybe I can, uh, make him a bag! And I could give it to him!”

“Hey, that would be cool,” Alya agreed. “They don’t normally like to take fan stuff- told me it isn’t safe or something. But Chat’s talked to you before. I bet we could make it work!”

“Could you help me let him know? Since he obviously reads the LadyBlog? And he could pick it up at my balcony, since he knows where that is, too!”  _ And then I can talk to him for real. If he wasn’t lonely too, he wouldn’t have gotten mad at Ladybug. But he’s not mad at Marinette! _

“I’m down, but I’m  _ not _ down to make the Ladyblog into some kind of craigslist combo hook-up app for you.”

“What?!”

“Let’s think. Maybe it can have some kind of contest aspect to it? Or something like that?”

Marinette was approaching her turn. She looked at Alya with eyebrows knit together. “Sure, maybe, yeah...let’s talk about that later. I got to get started on this literature homework.”

“Ugh, me too. See you later, girl!”

Marinette got home and brought her homework right up to her room. She planned to call Alya and put her idea into motion after finishing her maths and reading the assigned chapter of Le Bossu de Notre Dame. This early in September, the evening weather was wonderful and the sunsets were gorgeous, so she’d taken her book and annotation supplies with a pain au chocolat out to the balcony. Tikki was nibbling on the chocolate when she suddenly squeaked and flew to hide in Marinette’s jacket. 

“Tikki? What’s wrong?” Tikki didn’t answer. But a sudden thud nearby did. Marinette spun around to see a very sad looking Chat Noir sitting on her railing. “Chat Noir!”

“Hi, Marinette,” Chat said. 

Immediately, Marinette felt on the defense. Even though she wanted to talk to him, her wounds were still fresh, and seeing him triggered a nervous response. Was he going to hurt her again? But then Chat Noir looked up and she saw the sadness in his eyes. It was like he didn’t even deserve to be in front of Marinette. The look was familiar- a combination of grief and guilt with a twinge of anger that Marinette had seen in the mirror hours ago. So Marinette’s defenses dropped. She wanted to talk to him, right? This was her chance. It wasn’t scary, he wasn’t a monster. It was in fact just... awfully convenient . “What are you doing here?” Marinette asked.

Chat sighed dramatically. He looked up at the fading sky, then back to Marinette. “I’m having girl problems again. I’m so sorry, you must think I’m so lame. It’s just, you’re the only one who really knows how I...how I feel about-"

“Ladybug…” Marinette finished quietly. 

“Yep. It was so nice to talk to you last time,” Chat said, alluding to the day he took Marinette to see the date he had laid out for his beloved partner. Marinette remembered it easily: she thought about it often. Maybe more often than she wanted to admit.

Marinette wanted to shout that she was the one who wanted to get  _ his  _ help in the love department, that she had all day, but he looked so sad and so dejected. Her problems didn’t seem to compare to the weight on his shoulders. It seemed unreal that Marinette could be the one to cause so much grief to such a strong person. He wouldn’t have gotten mad if he hadn’t been hurt in the first place.

“Come off the railing. Let me get you a pastry and some milk. Croissant with almond? Plain? Au chocolat? I could try and snag an éclair if you want something richer.”

Chat’s ears perked slightly. “I love the plain croissants here. Could I get one of those?”

“You’ve eaten here before?” Chat just grinned. He wasn’t giving any more info. Marinette smiled. “Okay, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

She dropped through to her room and into the house, walking quietly into the back of the boulangerie patisserie. What a serendipitous change of events. She  _ had  _ wanted to hear his side of things, and she had wanted to apologize…! It’s not like Marinette could apologize for Ladybug; not really. But Marinette could pave a road towards forgiveness and understanding. Then maybe, after he’d forgiven her, Ladybug could get the advice that Marinette needed? 

_ Hmm. Too much planning. First, croissants. _ She pushed the swing door open, calling out, “Papa? Can I have another croissant?”

“Marinette, Marinette, Marinette. Two pastries for one snacktime? This is gourmandise!”[2] He teased. But she knew her loving father wasn’t serious. He tossed her a croissant which Marinette caught, crumbs landing all over her clothes. 

“Tom,” Sabine lectured, “you can’t throw the pastries in here!”

“Thanks, Papa,” Marinette said before she got involved  in their conversation about etiquette. She stopped in the kitchen on the way up to pour two glasses of milk and carefully carried it all up to the balcony. 

Chat Noir turned around and smiled hungrily at the treat. Marinette said, “I thought milk would be appropriate,” handing him his glass and the croissant. “Now. What’s going on?”

“Today is kind of like our anniversary. I think I’m the only one who cares,” Chat sighed, “but we met two years ago today. It’s not like it’s a huge date and I didn’t expect to do anything for it. But I have it marked on my calendar, you know? So I was thinking about how important Ladybug is to me. I don’t necessarily even mean romantically. Our friendship is the strongest friendship I have.”

Marinette couldn’t help but smile that Chat marked it on his calendar. Was it his civilian one? How did he label it? But she couldn’t let herself get distracted by that detail. “Okay, So...did she forget?”

Chat shrugged. “I didn’t expect her to remember. Believe it or not, Ladybug didn’t even really want to be Ladybug two years ago today. Not like me- I was so ready,  _ so  _ ready to be someone else. I really think Ladybug helped shape who that someone else ended up becoming. But no, I didn’t care that she forgot. That’s not my problem.” Chat took a long, long drink from his milk. 

“Hey...you’re friends with the girl who runs the Ladyblog, aren’t you?”

“Um...yeah...how do you-“

“She mentioned you today when we saved her train. That’s why I remembered I could come talk to you about this kind of stuff.”

Oh. That made sense. So in a way, the purse-to-bait-Chat plan  _ did _ work. Just before they’d even done anything to set the bait. “Oh, okay. Yes, we’re friends.”

Chat shook a finger at her. “You can’t tell her any of this.”

“I won’t!”

“You have to swear!”

“Chat, I won’t. I didn’t last time!”

Chat looked at her. His ears twitched backwards. It was as if he was trying to sniff out a lie. Marinette moved her fingers in front of her lips, zipping them shut. Chat nodded- he seemed confident enough that he continued talking. “After the last time I talked to you about her, we had a really good conversation, Ladybug and me. And she told me that even though we were good friends, she liked Some Other Boy. She was super nice about it, and I figured it would be okay. Crushes come and go, right? So I would keep being her friend and maybe, maybe one day she’d get over him and we could become something more.”

Marinette listened quietly. She sat on the wooden spool facing Chat, slowly chewing her pain au chocolat. It was fascinating to hear this side of things. It was also terribly unfair to Chat, as she was positive he wouldn’t be telling her this if he knew who she really was. But of all people, Marinette knew how lonely this life was. She would never cheat Chat out of a friend. It was exactly what she wanted for herself.

“I decided not to let things change between us. I figured that the Some Other Boy would go away. But...he didn’t. During the summer, she started showing up later for joint patrols. She became even less receptive when we would flirt. I’m not stupid, I know what it looks like when someone starts...well,  _ dating _ .”

“Ladybug is dating someone?” Marinette asked, feigning surprise.

“Yeah. She didn’t admit it, but she must be dating that boy she told me about the night I tried to take her on a date.” He gave a sad smile. “Maybe I should be happy for her- she really liked him.”

Marinette jumped a little in her seat. No, the boy she had a crush on back then was  _ Adrien _ , not Luka! ...But how would Chat have known that? Of course he wouldn’t... “Do you...do you know who it is?”

Chat laughed darkly. “No, way. We don’t talk about things like that. I normally hate that. I want to know everything about her, I want her to trust me! I would scale a thousand rooftops just to know the color of her toothbrush.” He looked at Marinette sadly. It was beginning to feel like Marinette was the only one who got to see the sad, loving look in those bright green eyes. 

She wondered if that was why it took so long to believe he really did love her as Ladybug. Around Ladybug, Chat had a quick wit and an even faster tongue. Marinette couldn’t string a sentence around Adrien until she’d known him for a year! Luka had been different, since it was pretty clearly mutual. She knew right away they liked each other and that made her confident, excited. 

As Marinette thought of Luka, Chat Noir unknowingly spoke of him, too. “I want to know everything about her, but I really don’t want to know about the boy she’s dating. There’s nothing I can do about their relationship, and it just...hurts my heart to know she loves someone else.” Marinette looked up in surprise. Loves? She hadn’t told Chat Noir anything about love. “Most of the time I try to convince myself I can’t see the signs that she’s found...a new partner.”

“Oh, Chat. She isn’t replacing you.”

“Yeah, the head agrees. But try that a little louder, so my heart can hear you,” Chat said in a dry joking voice. “Today, while I was busy thinking about how much my life has changed for the better in the past two years because of her, she starts talking about  _ Some Other Boy _ and asking me if I had trouble ‘deepening my romantic relationships because of my secret’. She basically told me she wants to take the next step, whatever that is, with this guy, and wanted advice on how to do it. Even though she knows how I feel about her, and that I’ve wanted to take the next step for...oh la la, for a long time.”

“That is pretty uncool,” Marinette agreed, sinking her face into her hand. “I bet she wasn’t thinking about how much it would hurt you.”

“I don’t think she was,” Chat agreed. “She sometimes jumps first and asks questions second. When Ladybug makes a decision, she sticks to it." He shook his head slowly.

Chat and Marinette found themselves caught in replaying the vitriolic, thoughtless conversation. The way his eyes flashed and narrowed, his hair standing tall like a defensive cat, the way her heart had sank. Did he feel bad, too? With a shaky breath, Marinette asked, “Wh-what did you say back?”

Chat frowned into his glass of milk. “A lot of stuff I regret. I had a real bat cat-itude about it. I yelled at her. I didn’t even try to listen. I got so angry, so fast, because…” Chat somehow curled himself even smaller, “ _ I _ want to be that boy she’s talking about. I didn’t think it was fair, right? And I was caught off guard! So I yelled. I think…” he picked at the layers of his croissant like a daisy. “I think she was even trying to apologize and I didn’t let her. I said she had no human decency.”

“Do you believe that?” 

“Not for a minute.” He looked up at Marinette. His eyes were still sad as he said, “She’s the most decent, generous, loving person I’ve ever met.” With a faraway smile, Chat continued, “I can’t even imagine how amazing it would be to be on the receiving end of all her love. I get to have part of it! I know Ladybug cares about me. But  _ nom de Dieu _ ,[3] to have her love me...even just to know I could love her and she be receptive, to praise her and show her how amazing she is, to be allowed to adore her and everything about her? The idea makes me go crazy!”

Marinette’s throat was dry, and her heart pumped loud in her chest and in her ears.  _ Chat...Chat...Chat...Chat _ , it pumped, and for a moment, Marinette could imagine letting him love her and all that Chat described. She could imagine him holding her in his arms, she could imagine a hug after a hard day, she could imagine Chat Noir letting Ladybug see his soft side. If it gave her more moments like this… “She already knows how I feel, though,” Chat continued, interrupting Marinette’s thoughts.  _ If I didn’t, I do now. _ “That’s really why I got mad. I’m not mad at her for dating someone else. I’m just, euh,  _ upset _ that she would try to use my advice to get farther with that boyfriend.”

“Maybe she isn’t trying to go to the next level with her…’some other boy’. Maybe she’s struggling to keep them afloat.” Chat looked over at her, his shoulders still slumped. He didn’t speak, which Marinette took as a sign he was listening. “She was asking you about secrets, right? Secrets...secrets are hard on people and hard on relationships. Maybe the secrets she has to keep from the boy are pushing them apart.”

A light breeze rustled Chat's otherwise still tail. The sun continued to lower itself behind him, bathing him in soft warm colors. After thinking in the silence, Chat said quietly, “She wouldn’t have to keep secrets from me."

“Are you sure?” Marinette asked.  _ You want a secret, Chat? _ She thought loudly,  _ I’m your Ladybug! _ “Aren’t your identities secret, even to each other?”

Chat slipped off the balcony and took his milk to sit next to Marinette on the spool. “Yes. That’s hard, but that’s totally different. I bet you don’t see how- you don’t seem like the kind of girl who keeps a lot of secrets.”

“I don’t?"

Chat laughed. “No way. You seem way too cool and nice for that.” He smiled at her with such a friendly smile, it was as if they had talked one-on-one way more than twice. Which was obviously the truth, since she saw him every time Ladybug and Chat Noir were together, but there was no way Chat  _ knew  _ that. “But...let’s see, how to make Marinette Dupain-Cheng understand  _ secrecy _ . Hmm...okay, I’ve got it. I have an analogy. Have you ever made someone a present, but totally as a surprise? So they had no idea you were getting them something at all?”

Marinette nodded. She thought of Adrien’s birthday scarf. He  _ still _ didn’t know it was from her. “Yes, and?”

“Alright. Now what about a secret present that someone knows is coming? Have you ever promised someone a present for Christmas or a birthday, and they knew you were getting them  _ something _ , they just didn’t know what it was going to be?”

Her mind flipped to Alya’s birthday purse and Alya’s insistent demands to know what Marinette was making. “Yes, I’ve done that, too. What do you mean?”

“My secrets with Ladybug are like the second kind. We know that each of us has another life we can’t talk about. But we can hint about it! I know she has friends, she knows I like going to school, blah, blah, blah. She can’t tell me what’s inside the box, the details of her life...but she doesn’t have to pretend the box doesn’t even exist.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, suddenly understanding Chat’s analogy. “But everyone else who isn’t Chat Noir doesn’t even know the Ladybug box exists for her.”

“Exactly. It’s that gift she’s spent so long on making just right, that she’s so proud of. And she doesn’t even know if they’ll ever, ever get to open it. She has to lie to them to keep it a secret. She never has to lie to me.”

“That...that is very different,” Marinette agreed solemnly. She looked at Chat. He was clearly very proud he’d at least convinced someone he was right. “But it’s still lonely. Nobody gets to know the entire Ladybug, even if she did pick you, Chat.”

He frowned. In a motion that looked very unsure of himself, Chat grabbed his own tail and started playing with the end. “I would still much rather be lonely with someone else.”

Marinette felt her heart flip at those words. Maybe because this was a side of Chat she really liked and never got to see as her alter-ego. But maybe it was because she felt the same way.

“I bet she feels lonely, too. That’s probably why she wanted to talk to you about that thing, Chat. I bet she understands why you got mad and feels really bad for hurting your feelings.”

“You just want me to feel better,” Chat muttered.

“Yeah, I do, but I still believe it!” Marinette said. She grabbed Chat’s leather-bound shoulder and squeezed. “You’re a really great guy, Chat Noir. Nobody would want to hurt you who knows you as well as Ladybug does.”

Chat’s lip curled slightly. He didn’t say it out loud, but Marinette knew Chat well enough to read his thoughts- _ I am pretty great, aren’t I?   _ Instead, he said, “You’re great too, Marinette. You’re way more kind and patient and paw-sitive than I am...heh, I bet you and Ladybug would really get along. Can you imagine?” Chat grinned so brightly, it seemed to light up his whole face. “You and Ladybug together? All the negative feelings akumas feed on..they wouldn’t last a mew-ment.” His smile grew softer. “Thanks for listening to me. I know it’s not very superhero-y to sit and cry over my feelings.”

“On the contrary, I think it’s very brave. Addressing feelings is important and scary and I’m proud of you,” Marinette promised.

Chat sat up a little taller. He looked touched that she would say that. In a soft voice with none of his normal bravado, Chat said, “You really are something.”  Marinette blushed slightly at the praise. “How are you anyway?”

Chat had, frankly, already addressed so much of what she was feeling lost and confused about before he arrived. Without meaning to, he had just hosted the conversation Ladybug wanted all along. So she just said, “Oh...fine. A little behind in my homework for tonight is all.”

“Pah, I’m sure you’re just fine with your homework. You strike me as a very studious girl, always on top of her hiss-ignments. I bet you’re not even behind on the reading, I bet you just like being ahead.” Had she told him it was reading homework?

“You don’t know that,” Marinette teased.

“But am I wrong?”

“....No, I guess not.”

Chat grinned. “See, I have great instincts about this kind of thing, Princess. You’re a princess  _ and _ a scholar.” Marinette smiled at his little pet name. He hadn’t used it on her since the fight with the Dessinateur. “Now me, though- I actually  _ am _ behind on my homework for tonight,” Chat laughed. “Maybe it was just a bit of pro-cat-stination on my part, but I couldn’t focus without talking to someone about this. So I consider this being productively unproductive.” He winked at her. “Sorry for distracting  _ you _ , though.”

“Don’t worry about it, Chat Noir! I was actually hoping we could talk again.”

Chat tilted his head in surprise. “Really? Why?”

Marinette blushed a little. The reaction was just so different than what Chat Noir would have said if Ladybug had been the one to admit she wanted to talk to him. “Because you’re really great. And I learn a lot about myself when I talk to you. We have good conversations, don’t we?”

He grinned, crossing his arms and leaning on them. “Yeah, we do. I’m lucky to have met you.”

Marinette beamed at him. As unfair as it was that he didn’t know her identity, she loved it. “Yeah, me too.”

“So besides your homework and talking to your favorite superhero, what else has gone on in your life? Got your heart broken again recently?”

“No.” She looked away from Chat. “I might have to do a little heartbreaking, though.”

“Wait- What?!” Chat asked, slinking with interest to try and see her face again. “You? Heartbreaking?? What do you mean?” He was leaning forward in surprise and Marinette swore she could  _ almost _ see an upturned smile on his cheeks. 

“I don’t know,” Marinette muttered. “I’m...I’m confused.”

Chat stumbled even closer. “I can help!”

“Chat,” Marinette grabbed his glove, quickly pulling away at the touch of his claws. They hurt a lot more without her own gloves on! She very carefully tried again. “Chat, you’ve already helped more than you realize. You said some things I needed to hear.”

“Really? Like what??”

Marinette took a deep breath while she crafted an answer. “Let’s just say….that’s a secret box that you get to know exists, but I can’t tell you what’s inside.”

“Aw, come on! You don’t have to keep  _ your _ identity a secret to me, Marinette,” he promised.

“Then consider it my practice in secret keeping, you silly kitty.” Marinette’s phone started to buzz in her pocket. “It’s my friend, Alya,” Marinette said. “I have to take this.”

“I’ll be quiet,” Chat promised. 

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. Or he could leave? But maybe Chat didn’t want to be alone quite yet. She took the call anyway. “Ällo?”

“Cou-cou, Marinette!” Alya chirped. “Let’s talk about that handbag contest!”

Marinette already had got the advice she needed! Why bait Chat Noir now? “Oh, Alya, I don’t know if I really need…” She looked over at Chat. His glowing green eyes watching her patiently, kindly.  _ Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible to see him again, though. _ “Uh, one minute, Alya,” Marinette said. She quickly put her friend on mute and turned to Chat. “Do you want a Ladybug handbag, like the one Alya showed you today?”

Chat’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yes! Yes please!”

Marinette giggled. “What would you do with it?”

“Put stuff in it, obviously,” Chat said with a wink. “I can carry around my catnip and my lady in miniature at the same time.” He was obviously starting to feel better.

“Like a doll?”

Chat stuttered out his reply. “I don’t-don’t have a...I meant the bag! The bag is My Lady in miniature! Not a doll!”

Marinette laughed. “Okay then. I’ll make you one- check the Ladyblog. Alya has something in mind.”

“Oh, she does? Should I be nervous?” He  _ looked _ nervous. 

“With Alya, the key is to be on your toes...not nervous. This call will probably be awhile, though. I should let you go do whatever Paris needs you to do.”

“I get it, I get it. I’ll scat-cat out. Thank you, Marinette. For everything.” Chat squeezed her hand and stood up. He gave her a two-finger salute and called out, “See you with that purrrrrse!” before pouncing away against the colors of sunset.

Marinette watched until she couldn’t see him anymore. Then she turned the mute off the phone. “I’m back. Let’s talk about those handbags.”

\--

It ended up being a late afternoon for Marinette. Once she got off the phone with Alya and  _ finally _ finished her assigned reading, it was already time to help proof the pastries for the morning. She climbed back into her room and fell on her bed. “Tikki,” Marinette asked. Her kwami flew out of her coat and sat on her pillow. “Has Chat messaged about a patrol tonight?” 

“Yes! And you’ll want to hear this one yourself,” Tikki answered with a beaming smile.

Marinette gulped. She pulled her Adrien lucky charm out of her pocket and put it on the bed. “Alright, then Tikki, Transform me!” With a dramatic flourish, Marinette magically transformed into Ladybug. Immediately, Ladybug picked up the lucky charm and squeezed it. She needed all the luck she could for this message to go well. She pulled her blinking yo-yo out, opened it, and tapped the blinking envelope.

From her yo-yo, she heard Chat speak aloud. “Hey, Ladybug. I’m sorry about snapping at you earlier. Sometimes this kitten has claws, you know? You really didn’t deserve that.  Anyway, I needed some fresh air so I’m doing the patrol myself tonight. I’ll let you know if something comes up that needs both of us. And Ladybug… I really am sorry. I didn’t even let you try to tell me what you wanted to say. I guess I just got jealous. Call me if you need me; Chat meow-t.”

Ladybug smiled into her yo-yo. He really did sound better. But now it was her turn to apologize. She clicked the icon to call Chat, who picked up on the third ring.

“Ladybug?”

“Chat Noir, hi! I got your message. Are you still out patrolling?”

“Yeah, for a little bit.”

“What happened to your theory that patrols are better after dinnertime?” Marinette sat on her bed, yo-yo in hand. It felt like she was just calling a friend...which she guessed was true. Just donned in her super suit. 

“Oh, uh, I was already out. I was talking to a friend, actually.”

“As Chat Noir?”

“Yeah,” Chat replied, “My kwami isn’t always the best listener. Is that okay? For me to have a civilian friend as Chat Noir?”

Ladybug bit her lip and smiled. She realized that Chat was referring to her, to  _ Marinette _ , as his friend. It made her stomach twist a bit. She had a friend in  _ both _ identities! Well, and Alya, but frankly, Alya still felt like a fan first and friend to Ladybug second. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. But Chat, you have to keep your friend safe. Don’t let Hawkmoth know about her.” [4]

“I know, Ladybug, I know. I’m not stupid.” 

“I don’t think you are, Chat.” She paused. She could hear the hustle and bustle of Paris on the other end of the line. “Chat, I’m sorry. It was out of line for me to bring up my feelings for another boy around you. You’re so important to me and…” Ladybug gulped. Why was this so hard to say? “And these past two years have been two of the best years of my life. I love being Ladybug, but I would...I would have quit long, long ago if it hadn’t been for you.”

“Really?” Chat asked, quietly. 

“Really. It’s hard. And it’s lonely. And I want to protect Paris, I really do, but I could never do this alone. You’re more than just my best friend, Chat. You’re my partner. I could never replace that.” Now it was Chat’s turn to be quiet. Ladybug felt very awkward and very exposed. “And hey, happy anniversary. It’s two years today, isn’t it?”

Chat’s voice came back bubbly. “Yes, it is. Happy anniversary, My Lady! And thank you...for saying what you did. I want you to feel like you can talk to me. We shouldn’t have to keep things from each other.”

“No, we shouldn’t. You’re right.”

“I shouldn’t be jealous of every person who comes in and out of your life. I never like seeing you hurt and I never should have been the cause. I'm sorry again for taking my anger out on you. I swear, if I hurt you again, punch me!”

“Are you sure about that? I punch pretty hard, Chat Noir,” Ladybug laughed. 

“Oh, I’m sure you do.” Chat’s reply had a bit of a lilt to it, almost like he was flirting. It made Marinette laugh, but she decided not to ask about it. 

“Okay. If you hurt my feelings, we’ll see just how far you fly.”

“Purrfect, My Lady! Let’s never be scared to tell each other the good in our lives.”

Ladybug rolled on her bed, cradling the yo-yo closer. “That sounds great. But then where are your limits, Chat?”

The line was quiet except for the background noises of faint accordion and honking cars. Chat finally came up with his answer, clearing his throat and saying, “I, uh...honestly I’m not ready to talk about boyfriends yet. But I’ll work on it. I want you to be able to chat with your Chat like any best friend!”

“I won’t bring him up again. You let me know when you’re ready. How about that? And I won’t try to keep things from you if you don’t try to keep things from me.”

“So in the spirit of not keeping things from each other...uh...I may have told my friend you have a boyfriend.”

“You did?” Ladybug said, pretending to be shocked. 

“Yeah, we were talking about...um...how I snapped at you today, so it came up. I don’t know who Monsieur Temporary is, so I swear I didn’t name names. And I made her promise to keep it a secret, too!”

“Monsieur Temporary? Is that what you’re calling my boyfriend?” Ladybug asked, laughing loudly. Frankly, the name sounded much more classic Chat Noir than ‘Some Other Boy’.

“Of course! We all know you and I are the ones written in the stars, destined to be together fur-ever. So why bother with any name other than M. Temporary?”

“That’s n’importe quoi, Chat,”[5] Ladybug laughed again. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you  _ couldn’t do it without me _ , ridiculous or not,” he said. She could practically see him leaning into his baton, shit-eating grin.

“So, are we good? You and me?”

Ladybug could hear the smile in Chat’s voice. “Yeah, I think we are. I’m sorry again. I don’t know why I even got so worried about little old M. Temporary.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Chaton. Oh, oops- can I call you chaton again?”

“My Lady, I would be heartbroken if you didn’t.”

Ladybug smiled softly. She wouldn’t break his heart twice in one day. “Okay. Then goodnight, mon chaton bête.”[6]

“And goodnight, ma buginette.”

Ladybug hung up and dropped her transformation. She fell back onto the bed with a big smile on her face.

Tikki flew around her, clapping her hands. “I’m so glad you two aren’t fighting! You sound much happier now.”

“I am,” Marinette said, looking at her tiny friend. “I think it helps that I’m starting to see the sensitive side of Chat Noir a little more.”

“I know,” Tikki agreed, “he’s turning out to be a real upstanding person when he tries to be. You’re lucky that you get to see that side of him as Marinette.”

Marinette pulled her cat pillow into her lap and sat up. “So then...who is he?”

“What?!”

“Oh, come on Tikki. I know you know! You saw him! When we fought Dark Owl.”

“And why would I tell you who he is?”

“Because I asked?”

“You’ve never wanted to know before!” Tikki said, flying closer.

“I know, I just...he’s so much...better than I thought. I want to know what he’s like in person. Outside of Chat Noir.”

Tikki giggled. “You sound like you’re getting smitten for your kitten.”

“Oh, am not!” Marinette shouted, throwing a pillow at Tikki. The pillow hit Tikki and knocked her to the ground, sending Marinette into a panicked second. At least until Tikki phased through the pillow back to Marinette’s side.

“That was not a very mature or convincing reaction, young lady,” she teased. 

“I probably don’t even know him,” Marinette said. “There’s over 2 million people in Paris and I only ever hang out with kids from class. So...knowing his name couldn’t possibly hurt!”

“No way, Marinette,” Tikki said absolutely. She was smiling, though. As if what she knew was too delicious to stay inside her mouth.

“Can I have a clue?”

“Hmm,” Tikki seemed to really be thinking about it. “What is it Alya always says? I’ll tell you when you’re older!”

“ _ Tikki _ !” Marinette complained. But at least it wasn’t a no. "I guess I don't need to know his name. His name isn't who he is. Who he is, is..." Marinette looked up through the skylight. There was no more sun left, just dark, leathery sky. "Surprising," she finally finished. "He's surprising."

Tikki hummed in amusement. She flew over to settle on Marinette's pillow, right next to her head. "In a good way?"

"In a very good way."

Giggling, Tikki agreed, "Yes, I think so too. And so will you."

Marinette rolled her head, looking at Tikki in confusion. "What? I already said I think he's surprising. Why are you talking in future tense? Why  _will_ I think that?"  Tikki hovered a few centimeters above the pillow, as she was apt to do when something was too amusing to sit still. She took a hand and zipped it across her lips, mimicking Marinette from earlier.  "Tikki! You tiny tease!" Marinette tapped her kwami on the head, releasing a stream of jingling laughter and soon, Marinette joined in. 

She never did get her answer out of Tikki. The two of them stayed in bed, talking about all sorts of other things from the earlier conversations and their day. Eventually, as Marinette grew tired and the sky got darker, Tikki's ominous comment evaporated into forgotten air. After all, Marinette already knew the most important thing about Chat Noir: she knew she was excited to see him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1"la vache": Literally, "the cow", but best thought of like "holy cow". This expression is used a lot in times of frustration (more so than surprise, like the American equivalent) and is not a swear.  
> 2"gourmandise": "gluttony", but this word is tossed around casually a lot, like in this interaction. The French stick to a pretty strict cultural schedule of Breakfast, Big Lunch, teatime Snack (le goûter), and Late Dinner (with dessert as sweets or fruit or cheese). Sometimes life happens and you throw in extra snacks here and there, but that is usually considered "gourmandise"- as is taking more helpings of food than you need, or having extra food at snacktime.  
> 3"nom de Dieu": Literally, "name of God", best thought of as "My God". It's used as an expression to heighten the stress on something or express surprise. It's a little stronger and a little more reverent than "mon Dieu" (oh my god).  
> 4"Don’t let Hawkmoth know about her": Obviously this is in English. Here's the thing- when Chat said he was talking to "a friend", he would have said "une amie", as you need to specify the gender of a friend in French ('un ami' would be male). Therefore, even if Marinette didn't know Chat was talking about herself, she could tell him, "Don't let Hawkmoth know about her" and Chat wouldn't be suspicious that she knew it was a female friend.  
> 5"n'importe quoi": Literally, "anything", but isn't used like that here. It's a very flexible and popular expression. It gets used like we use 'bullshit' a lot, or 'silliness', or 'ridiculous'. It's hard to translate, hence not getting translated.  
> 6"mon chaton bête": "my silly kitty". Bête is a wonderful word because it means dumb/silly, but ALSO means creature (often bug, but technically 'creature'). So on one level, she's calling Chat a silly kitty. But on another level she's animalizing him. Anyway, it's not important that she's animalizing him, but I love it and I think they would, too.


	9. Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously a new episode aired for those of you who saw. Thankfully it doesn't Joss this story, so no need for spoilers or for changes!
> 
> We have a decent amount of end-notes today of fairly long length. There's a few instances where language is key to misunderstandings in this chapter, thanks to French. As always, you should be able to understand without them, but there are moments that will be a lot more enjoyable if you get their exact meanings. :) Most important thing- if you see a character say 'ladybug' lowercase, it's in french (coccinelle) and if they say ‘Ladybug’ uppercase, it's in English (the hero, Miraculous Ladybug).
> 
> (Also, we are officially in the last half of the chapters and I just realized that every Sunday you're getting an Adrien POV and every Thursday you're getting a Marinette POV. That's fun and I should have noticed a long time ago.)

 “-And that wraps up the entire patrol review,” Ladybug announced, snapping her yo-yo shut with pride. She looked over at Chat and smiled. He could see the lights of Paris twinkling in her eyes. In mid September, a few weeks after school started, sunset was starting to come earlier. Patrols held at the same time each patrol were darker and darker. This time last year, Ladybug had insisted they avoid night patrols. She couldn’t see in the dark the way he could. And yet, it was comfortably autumn, they were patrolling, and Ladybug had streetlamps reflected in her eyes.

 “Not too bad, if I do say so meow-self. I still can’t get over the way you caught that akuma before it even infected someone, right as it flew over the Seine!”

 “That was pretty great,” Ladybug agreed. “I wish we could do that more often! It would save everyone so much heartache. I just hope whoever was supposed to get infected solves their own problems.” She walked over to the edge of the railing and looked out at the city. Chat Noir and Ladybug had called it quits and stopped to look at patrol notes at Saint Chapelle. The normally bustling tourist chapel was empty, closed for the night, casting gothic shadows over Ladybug as she worried.

 “You can’t ruin your night worrying about that, My Lady. You aren’t responsible for the mental health for all Parisians everywhere. Just focus on how you helped them _today_.” He walked over to her, putting a tentative hand on Ladybug’s shoulder. She looked over at him and Chat tried to ignore how his heart flipped. “I know I’d rather be a little bit of a grumpy-puss than know I was the cat that knocked over the Eiffel Tower and have that haunt me, changing how friends looked at me...all of that akuma baggage.”

 “You’re right,” she mumbled.

 “What was that?”

 Ladybug rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. “You’re right, chaton.”

 “Oh geez, sorry,” he screwed a finger into his leather ear, then pulled it back out. “I had a hairball in my ear. What did you say?”

 “Beurk,[1] how would you even _get_ a hairball in your ear? Don’t those normally get puked out?”

 “Schematics!” Chat called, waving his paws around. “The point is, I want to hear you say it again!”

 “I’m not saying it to the cat who pukes in his own ear!” Ladybug laughed. “I’m not stooping that low!”

 Chat walked closer to her, enough to make their chests touch as he looked down. Ladybug did stand tall, but he was taller than her. He’d thought about it often. And this close, he could smell her hair perfectly- her Ladybug scent that enveloped every space they were in together, hot and intense this close like a perfume cloud only they stood in. Chat heard a tiny intake of breath and saw Ladybug’s eyes flash wide. Her scent shifted just slightly, to something stickier. “My Lady, you’re not the one who has to stoop low to reach me.”

 “Ohhh…” Ladybug seemed at a loss for a comeback. Chat grinned down at her, exposing as many teeth as he could. “Shoo, kitty. Bad kitty.”

 Chat chuckled and backed up enough to give them both some space to breathe. He pretended not to notice the subtle pink on her cheeks...but he noticed. Chat’s confident smirk faltered. She _shouldn’t_ be blushing for him. Leaning against the wall, Chat looked over at Ladybug curiously. He loved her. He knew that. But she was a taken woman, and even more important than that, she’d rejected his advances. Now, it was true that she seemed to slowly be warming up to him...but that didn’t mean it was his place to push her where she obviously didn’t want to go. Ladybug knew she had a standing offer from Chat. Right?

 He was pretty sure she did.

 And so he had to stop obsessing over her in ways that might drive her away before one day, her ‘shoo, kitty’ meant something real. “Ladybug...tell me one thing about him.”

 “About the almost-akuma-victim? I don’t know anything about him! I don’t even know if it’s a ‘he’.”

 “Not _that_ person,” Chat said, shaking his head. He clasped his hands together, sporting a girlish pose and fluttering his eyelashes. “Your _boyfriend_.” Ladybug’s eyes popped wide, her mouth forming a tiny ‘oh’. “Tell me one thing about your boyfriend.”

 Her normally confident Ladybug pose dropped slightly. She looked awkward, confused. “Wh-why? Why do you want to know? I thought you told me...that you didn’t want to hear anything about him.” Her voice sounded sad, nervous. Like he’d given her restrictions and she was afraid to break the rules. God, why had he done that? Why had he gotten so mad when she just wanted to share a new part of herself with him two weeks ago? Adrien knew what restrictions like that did to a person. How could he do it to her?

 He had to be careful with his reply. Anything too intimate and she’d be scared off. “Because I’m a masochist,” Chat offered with a shrug. “I’m used to not feeling loved from others, and you give me more affection than most people, so I need you to remind me that I’m not your amoureux[2].” Okay, maybe he overcorrected.

 Yeah, from Ladybug’s horrified, pitying expression, he _definitely_ overcorrected.

 Chat flashed a grin as if he’d said nothing, adding, “And I want to add it to my list of Reasons Why Chat Noir is Better Than Monsieur Temporary.”

 “Chat, are you _okay_? Are you... _okay-okay_?”

 “As in ‘Better Than Monsieur Temporary’? I’m paw-some!”

 “As in ‘receiving the love and affection you deserve from family and friends’. Should you be talking to someone about this?”

 “I’m talking to you! Come on, Ladybug. It was a joke. Just tell me one fact about your lame boyfriend.”

 Ladybug crossed her arms. She looked like she didn’t believe Chat ( _of course she doesn’t. She’s Ladybug- she sees right through me_ ), but she appeased him. “First of all, he’s _not_ lame.”

 “Is that your fact?”

 “No,” Ladybug laughed. She dropped her arms to her side and walked to his wall, leaning next to Chat. She looked out at the sky, thinking. Thinking. Thinking for quite awhile.

 “Merde, do you even know who he is? How is it that hard to think of a fact, My Lady?”

 “Oh, tais-toi![3] ” Ladybug laughed. “I’m trying to think of something ...something that won’t give us away and is still interesting.” _Us_. _She calls them us_. “He writes songs,” she finally said. Ladybug rolled her head to look at Chat, smiling softly. But it was her smile for Chat, not the smile she gave victims, or the press, or when talking about her friends and family in vague terms. She was happy that he asked.

 “He writes songs?” Chat repeated.

 Ladybug nodded in confirmation. “He’s very good at it.”

 Chat couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit competitive. “That’s no big deal. I write poetry! I could write a song!”

 “You do? Bien dis-donc![4] ” Ladybug asked, blinking in surprise.

 “How is that purr-prising? I’m a _master_ at wordplay.”

 “Poetry isn’t _puns_ , Chat Noir.”

 “Then you clearly aren’t well-versed in the subtle art of the limerick,” Chat grinned. “ _And_ I snuck a pun in there just now.” Truth be told, most of his poems (which were usually about her) weren’t limericks at all. But he was supposed to be inching away from obsessing over the very-taken, very-smitten-with-her-boyfriend woman next to him. Not towards her and his obsessive crush. 

 He was failing miserably.

 “I don’t think I believe you, minou. Tell me one.”

 “Tell you one what?”

 “One of your poems!”

 “I can’t just rattle off a poem! Ladybug, they take _time_ and _energy_ and _inspiration_.” He pinched his fingers together and pursed his lips, shaking his hand in front of her like an overdramatic chef. He darkened his accent, trying to sound as Haughty Parisian French as possible. “It takes _precision_ and _all the stars and moons to line up in the beauty of her face_.”

 “You’re such a liar; you don’t write poetry!” Ladybug laughed. “I only know one boy who writes poetry. And his soul is deep, and caring, and he’s very serious. He’s dedicated to work and has a meticulous schedule. That’s the attitude you need to write poetry and I just don’t think you have that, Chat!”

 Chat’s heart dropped a little in his chest as she sang the praises of Monsieur Temporary. Her eyes had lit up at just thinking about him and his poetry. “How do you know my soul isn’t as deep and caring as your boyfriend’s soul?”

 “My what?” Ladybug looked at him, confused. Then her eyebrows raised. “Oh! My boyfriend! Oh, no. My boyfriend doesn’t write poetry. I was...describing someone else. No. Monsieur Temporary writes music, not lyrics.”

 “You called him M. Temporary!” Chat shouted in triumph.

 Ladybug crossed her arms and pouted. “I can’t very well use his _name_ , Chat. It’s not my fault your nickname for him was so rude.”

 “Ah, rats. I should have called him Monsieur Worse-than-Chat-Noir.” He grinned at her and Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Would have driven the point home faster.” He flicked his tail. “Anyway. I _do_ write poetry because I _am_ a thoughtful word-smith. I just don’t have any of my poetry memorized.” Not true. It was just all love poems about her- and not the kind of silliness she was used to from Chat Noir. No, these were all Adrien’s. Then, a terrible, wonderful idea flashed through Chat’s mind. “But I have written you a song. I can sing it for you!”

 “You wrote me a song?” 

 “I sure did.” Chat stepped off the wall, clearing his throat and standing tall. “Ready to hear it?”

 “Alright,” Ladybug said with a laugh, eyes twinkling.

 Mischievously, Chat smirked right before he took his breath and started to sing in a warbling voice, “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon dieu-_ ”

 “Wait a moment…” Ladybug interrupted, “You didn’t write this!”

 “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle, envole toi jusqu’au cieux!_ ”[5]

 “Chat, you didn’t write that! It’s a nursery rhyme!”

 “Excuse you, but Chat Noir is generations old. How do you _know_ I didn’t write that?”

 “Because _you’re_ not centuries old, you dork! You’re my age!”

 “By that you mean...timeless?”

 “ _Chat!_ ”

 “Second verse!” Chat shouted, leaping farther from Ladybug, who had started to try and grab him. “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon chat-”_ He was getting louder, hopping from foot to foot.

 “Stop yowling!”

 “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle, j’adore même ton crachat!_ ”

 “That’s gross!”

 “It’s _romantic_!” Chat countered, laughing wildly as she launched her yo-yo at him and just barely missed. “All these leather fine goods _and_ romantic lyrics? How can you pass up on this, Buginette?”

 “Because I’m not a masochist like you, chaton!” 

 “Verse three!”

 “No!”

 Even louder now, to the point that Adrien could hear real stray cats yowling along, he sang, “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle, héro de Paris-”_

 “You’ll disturb the city, Chat!” Ladybug laughed, launching her yo-yo again and looping it around Chat’s ankle. He shook out of it, leaping onto the banister as he continued to sing.

 “ _Coccinelle, demoiselle-_ hurk!” Chat felt his gut and head going different directions and fell backwards on his butt. Ladybug had grabbed him by the tail and pulled him off the railing, onto the stone balcony floor. He looked up at her, flashing a toothy grin and kept singing at the top of his voice, “ _J’irais ton beau mari!_ ”

 “Beau? I think you mean _annoying_!”

 Chat’s eyes sparkled and he backed up against Ladybug’s legs, rubbing them with his face. “Oh, so I’m going to be your _annoying_ husband? I can do that!”

 “ _Chat Noir!_ ”

 An adult voice below them yelled out, “Hey, who’s up there?”

 “Oh, merde,” Chat muttered, the hair on the nape of his neck standing up. Ladybug dropped down from her standing position, crouching next to Chat Noir. “Buginette, we’re gonna get in trouble!”

 “That’s your fault,” she hissed. “You were screaming like an alley cat in a fight!”

 “Well I was, wasn’t I? I had to prove that your boyfriend isn’t the only musical person in the world.”

 “Is that what you were trying to prove? Because I don’t think you helped your case!”

 “This window opens. Let’s go through and out the back exit.”

 “Why do I hang out with you? I’m not supposed to get in trouble, Chat! You really are a bad kitty!”

 Chat giggled. He pushed the window open just enough to slink through and let Ladybug follow. In a whisper, he said, “I balance out all your goodness, My Lady. If I was as sweet as you, Paris would get cavities.”

 “I’m not so sweet that I won’t kick your tail for this, Chat.” Ladybug whispered back as they inched along the top level of the chapel. It was much darker inside and he had to hold her hand to guide them both through with his night-vision. It was hard to take her threat seriously while holding hands, but Ladybug kicked him in the shins as if to get the point across. 

 Chat Noir hissed at the pain. Then he said, “I wouldn’t mind that; you kicking my tail,” Chat replied lightly. “I could write a whole fourth verse about it!”

 “You wouldn’t!”

 “I’ll write enough nursery rhymes to last an entire childhood, My Lady!”

 “I pity the child who ends up in your arms, Chat,” Ladybug said in a whisper.

 As they crept along, Chat turned to look at Ladybug. She was even beautiful in the greenish hue of his night-vision. “You don’t think I’ll be a good dad?”

 “Oh, no, I think you’ll be a wonderful dad. But I still pity them! Especially if you try to sing them lullabies.”

 “We’ll just leave that up to you, then,” Chat answered quietly. And damn it, he _really sucked_ at getting over her!

 \----

 Nearly a month had gone by since the new school year began. Honestly, this was shaping up to be Adrien’s best school year yet. Yes, his grades were stellar and he liked his new lycée teachers. Mademoiselle Bustier had moved up to lead homeroom for them again, so he had her still, too. But most important of all for a promising school year, he had a good group of friends. 

 There was Nino, who sat beside him faithfully every day and was always available to talk and hang out and provide the loyalty he needed. There was Alya, who had become more of a friend than just a classmate, and always was down for a good joke or to trade a bad pun. And she was a whiz at Ladybug trivia with him. There was Chloé, who kept him humble. Mainly because he showed him everything he _didn’t_ want to be, and managed to help him practice patience, loyalty, and occasionally offered good conversation. 

 He was in a great place with Ladybug- still madly in love with her, but that love was beginning to hurt less. She had started to laugh at his jokes about M. Temporary, she was lingering after patrols and emergencies again, and she had taken to calling Chat about once a week to “check up” during his solo patrols. He swore she was even growing her own sense of humor. Now, she wasn’t in school with him, but considering the amount of times he had to ditch class to meet up and fight with her, it still counted. 

 In fact, all of his classmates were friendly with him, especially his new band mates. Kitty Section rehearsals had moved to the occasional Wednesday afternoon, and of course, they shared classes. Even Luka was in Adrien’s math class and although he wasn’t terribly talkative, he was a great friend, too. But of all his friends old and new, the biggest difference in friendship this year was Marinette. 

 Adrien had considered Marinette a friend since the third or fourth day of school two years ago, but it was a friendship strained by her clearly being star struck. This summer, that all had changed. He got to hang out with her a lot and realized first-hand how amazing she was. Not just at her talents, which she had more of than should be fair, but at her friendship and kindness to others. She brought a kind of energy to everything that even made boring summer photoshoots a highlight of his week.

 Chat Noir even paid her a visit one September night, just because Adrien hadn’t had enough of her yet. That was the night she gifted him the finished Ladybug Mask bag. It looked exactly like Alya’s, except she had swapped the gold chain strap for a black leather belt strap inspired by his tail. Adrien remembered how Marinette had blushed as she explained it was designed to match his costume, and that the two costumes looked good together. She didn’t even need to persuade him to model the gift for a few Ladyblog pictures.

 He swore her only faults seemed to be that she was pretty clumsy and forgetful, and held grudges maybe a bit too long. He loved hanging out with Marinette and was excited to have a school year that gave them more of a chance. And so far in September and now into October, it had. 

 Which was why his hand shot in the air when Mademoiselle Bustier started talking about a group project for their French Composition class and passed out the information paper. “Yes, Adrien?” She asked.

 “Can we choose our partners?”

 “Not this time. They will be randomly assigned.” The class groaned. Mademoiselle Bustier smiled at them all. “Class! Don’t worry. Working with other people that you might not normally click with is an essential life skill, and you all have strong enough relationships that any combination can provide a wonderful experience.” She finished explaining the project (a simple and straightforward research paper that included a class presentation, based on a variety of superstitions from around the world) and pulled out a fishbowl. Adrien pulled out his Marinette lucky charm and ran his fingers over the beads, repeating the same name over and over again in his head. _Marinette, Marinette, Marinette…_

 Mlle Bustier started her lottery. “Alya Césaire  and...Chloé Bourgeois.” Alya groaned. Adrien turned around and saw Marinette rubbing her friend’s back comfortingly. “Ivan Bruel and….Alix Kubdel. Max Kanté and...Sabrina Raincomprix. Nino Lahiffe and…” Adrien looked up at his friend, crossing his fingers. “Mylène Harpèle.” Nino shrugged in a ‘not too bad’ way, then turned to shoot Mylène a thumbs up. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng and…” Adrien turned forward, eagerly listening. “Adrien Agreste.” Mlle Bustier continued her list, but Adrien was no longer listening. He pumped his fist, then turned to Marinette. She was smiling wide, rose tinted cheeks pulled up in darling little apples, but her smile was not as wide as his grin. It would have been impossible not to see the enormous smirk on Alya’s face. He tried to ignore her, but after turning around saw that Alya’s boyfriend had an almost matching expression. 

 “What?” Adrien asked in a hushed voice.

 Nino’s smirk darkened into a chuckle. He shook his head. “Hey, dude. Rock on.”

 “What are you laughing at?”

 Nino didn’t answer, as Mlle Bustier spoke up again. “You will have the rest of period to begin work with your partner. Please choose a topic from the list and put your names and chosen topic on the board so we don’t have any repeats. Remember, papers are due on the 18th with presentations on the 17th, 18th, and 19th.” She pointed to the calendar, hitting the three days right before the week crossed out in orange and black writing, “Bon Toussaint!”.[6]

 “The day before Toussaint Holiday?!” Kim asked, outraged.

 “Yes, Kim, before the holidays. Would you rather have it due in November _after_ break so you spend all Toussaint Holiday writing a paper?”

 “Oh. No. Thanks, Mademoiselle,” Kim said quietly.

 “Mmhmm. You’re welcome, Monsieur. Okay students, find your partners and get to work.”

 Adrien picked up his paper and turned around to face Marinette. He gestured to the two desks. “Your place or mine?”

 Marinette’s face almost immediately went beet red. “Eeeh heheh ha ha umm...your desk is fine!”

 It made Adrien feel good that he could make her blush like that, even though they were such good friends now. He wasn’t exactly sure when it became important to him that Marinette thought he was...uh, worthy of blushing. But it was.

 Maybe it had something to do with how good Marinette was at guessing Ladybug’s feelings. After Chat Noir would visit Marinette and talk about Ladybug, any kind of advice Marinette would give would work wonders with His Lady. Maybe, if Marinette thought Adrien was hot stuff, Ladybug would agree?

 Or maybe it had way more to do with Marinette herself than he wanted to admit.

 The two friends pulled chairs up to Adrien’s desk. “I’m really glad we’re partners,” Adrien gushed.

 “You are?”

 “Totally! With school going on, I feel like we don’t get to see each other as much as we did over summer. Plus, you’re super smart. I bet we’ll do really well together.”

 Marinette beamed. He loved to see how she could smile from her eyes. Her bright, sky blue eyes… Marinette replied softly, “I bet we’ll do well together, too.” 

 Adrien caught himself staring into Marinette’s eyes. When he stared just long enough, the color was so much like Ladybug’s, he almost forgot he wasn’t in love with his project partner. Snapping himself to focus, Adrien said, “SO!” much louder than necessary. “A topic! Let’s choose a topic!”

 “Yeah, of course!” Marinette said. She spun to the table, but her shoe slipped on the floor and she ended up knocking both their papers on the floor and a rainfall of pencils. 

 She and Adrien both ducked under the desk. Adrien thought he could hear Chloé say something behind them, most likely a jibe at his Marinette, so he spoke up and over her. “I’ll help you get these.”

 “Thanks. I’m so sorry!” They both reached for the same paper and touched hands. Adrien and Marinette pulled away bashfully.“I’m so clumsy, I’m so sorry.”

 “You don’t need to apologize for that, Marinette,” Adrien said quietly. _I think it’s kind of cute,_ he thought. Out loud, he said, “it’s part of who you are. It’s like your yin-and-yang. You can’t possibly be good at everything _and_ a graceful swan.”

 “Who would want to be a swan anyway?” Marinette said, sticking her tongue out in disgust. “They’re so mean.”

 Adrien laughed. “I definitely don’t go for pretty, graceful, but mean girls.”

 “Ugh, neither would I,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. She paused for a moment, then looked back at Adrien curiously. What had he said to confuse her? Did she think he meant Chloé or something?

 To clarify, Adrien said, “You’re not anything like that, though. You’re pretty and _nice_ , more like, um...a penguin?”

 “A penguin?” Marinette laughed.

 “Bof, I don’t know! What birds are pretty and nice but not super graceful?”

 “So you go with penguins?” Marinette asked, giggling more. Adrien laughed too and shrugged. Then Marinette asked quietly, “Did you say I was pretty?”

  _Oh, he did_. He didn’t want Marinette to think he was trying to woo a taken girl! Adrien decided to take it in stride, even if he could hear his heart pumping in his ears. “Uh, yeah. It’s just a fact; you’re really pretty. It’s not, like, that arguable. You’re a pretty girl. But, um...let’s get out from under the table, don’t you think?”

 “Oh, y-yeah,” Marinette agreed. She kept smiling, a smile she looked like she was trying to swallow, even as they stood up. Adrien scooped up the papers so they could work above the desk and felt a buzz from his pocket. It was a text from Nino: _“What was going on down there? ;) :P >”_

 He didn’t reply, just put his phone back, but looked for Nino. Near the back of the room, Nino was waggling his eyebrows, making kissy-faces. Adrien made the same face back, but with mocking angry eyebrows, then turned his attention to his partner. “Should we look at the list?”

 “We should,” Marinette agreed. Together, they looked over the list of acceptable projects:

  _Arc-en-ciel_

_ Balayer  _ _ à côté _ _ des pieds _

_ Chats noirs _

_ Cocinelles _

_ Croiser les doigts _

_ Danse du parapluie _

_ Fer a cheval _

_ Marcher sous une échelle _

_ Les miroirs misent en abyme _

_ Les parapluies _

_ Paquito _

_ Porte-bonheur _

_ Vendredi Treize _

_ Vert  _ [6]

 “Ooh, look!” Marinette said. She pointed at the third phrase on the list, cooing, “J’ _adore_ les chats noirs!”

 Adrien’s eyes snapped to her. She loved him? Well, Chat Noir him?? “You love Chat Noir?” he asked.

“What? Oh! No, I said LES chat noirs, not LE Chat Noir. I like black cats. I didn’t mean the superhero. I- I mean I do like Chat Noir! I like him a lot, but I don’t….that’s not what I said. I meant...like on the list,” she pointed to the list, a rosy blush on her face. [7]

“Oh, of course,” Adrien said, his voice cracking momentarily. He shouldn’t be disappointed, but part of him kind of was. Marinette was super cool. Honestly, she was even funnier than Ladybug. Chat Noir could never date a civilian like her, even if she was single, but it would have been flattering. He liked talking to Marinette! Even when it was a bad day. Frankly,  _ especially _ when it was a bad day.  _ I hope she likes talking to me, too… _

“Sorry, that was dumb of me. Of course you meant the list.” Adrien laughed. “Have you ever met Chat Noir?”

“A bunch of times! I mean, uh...when he’s s-saved me. He’s saved me a few times now, and we’ve...we’ve talked.” She smiled. “I do really like him, I didn’t mean to say that I didn’t. He’s always surprising me...in a good way. I knew he was brave, but he’s funny, and he’s thoughtful and understanding.”

  Adrien smiled back. He _almost_ said ‘thank you’.  It was odd to have someone compliment that side of him. Adrien worked so hard to make Adrien a person who could make friends, please investors, please fans, please his father...that he just let Chat Noir be the person Adrien wanted to be. Opinions be damned. Sure, he cared about Ladybug’s opinion, but even then- he threw out Nathalie’s etiquette rule book and courted by feel. So to hear Marinette’s compliments to Chat Noir, it was like she was complimenting who Adrien _really_ was. And that was amazing.

 He really hoped Ladybug agreed with her.

 “Okay, so _LES chats noirs_ are a possibility,” Adrien said, putting heavy emphasis on the plural. Proudly, he noticed he earned a giggle from that. “Or...ooh! _Coccinelle_ \- a ladybug! Let’s do ladybugs!”

 Marinette beamed. “I love ladybugs!”

 “Me too,” Adrien said dreamily. “Both the bug and the Miraculous Ladybug.”

 Marinette started to giggle and blush.  

 “What? Am I not allowed to like Ladybug? You just said you like Chat Noir!”

 “No, I mean yes, of course you are! I wasn’t laughing at you.”

 “You weren’t?”

 “No...um...it’s nothing,” she said with a wave of her hand. Marinette was obviously smiling, even as she tried to hide it behind her hand. She couldn’t hide the way her eyes lit up and freckles darkened. It was absolutely adorable. “I think ladybugs would be a great topic.”

 “Did you know they’re not actually bugs?” Adrien asked. “They’re beetles. And they’re considered good luck in almost every culture. Personally, I think any culture where a Ladybug Superhero existed would have to know they’re good luck, wouldn’t you think? In Turkey, they even call it the ‘good luck bug’! Not just as a nickname, but as the actual term!”

 “Wow, Adrien,” Marinette said with wide eyes. “You know a _lot_ about ladybugs.”

 “Oh, haha,” Adrien looked at his hands, hoping he wasn’t blushing. “Yeah, I….uh, like I said,  I like ladybugs.”

 “And Ladybug,” Marinette added, raising an eyebrow. But she was still earnestly smiling.

 “Yeah, and Ladybug.” Frankly, liking Ladybug was _why_ Adrien knew so much about the bug. “Hey, since we already know so much about ladybugs, why don’t we do that for our project?”

 Chloé was walking by and Adrien was talking just loud enough that she stopped. “Ooh, Adrichou, that won’t work out, sweetie. See, Alya and I already _claimed_ Ladybug. And we are going to have the best project in the whole class. I am a _personal friend_ to Ladybug, after all. And Alya is like, obsessed with her or something, so she knows way more than you do. Hate to break it to you, dear.”

 Marinette glared at Chloé. “The project is on _ladybug superstition_ , not Ladybug.”

 “Pah, what’s the difference? One’s in French and one’s in English, big deal.” Chloé said, waving her hand. “It’s not like I’m going to be the one writing it. What matters is we got the best topic and you didn’t, Dupain-Cheng.” She pointed aggressively at the list on the board, handwritten group names next to their taken topics. Indeed, “Chloé BOURGEOIS et Alya C. -- les coccinelles alias[8] LADYBUG!!!!” was written at the top of the list in pink with hearts all around it.

Alya was standing behind Chloé, miming a desire to crush her head. Adrien couldn’t help but chuckle. Alya spoke up. “Chloé, it really  _ is _ about ladybug superstitions, not just the hero.” She put a hand out, gesturing a compromise, “but Ladybug’s powers and abilities do seem mostly to rely on luck and the concept of a lucky charm, so we’re absolutely going to write a lot about that.”

Marinette suddenly turned from Alya and Chloé to Adrien and smiled at him wide. “Of course,” she said. Then in English, she said, “ _ Lucky Charm. _ ” She switched back to French, pointing to  _ porte-bonheur _ and saying, “Lucky charm!”

Chloé scoffed. “Ugh, rude much? We were talking to Adrichou, you can’t interrupt us like that, Dupain-Cheng!”

“Come on, Chloé. Let’s just go work,” Alya said, going to grab her wrist.

“Ew, don’t touch me! This is fine china silk! Just because we’re partners doesn’t mean you get to touch my clothes!”

“Merdre, Chloé! Fine!”

Adrien watched them leave before turning his attention back to his partner who was clearly very excited. “Oh, lucky charms! Marinette, that’s a great idea!”

“Do you still have yours?” Marinette asked, smiling expectantly.

With a grin, Adrien swiftly pulled the bracelet out of his pocket. It probably had helped arrange their partnership today- of course he had it! He set the string of beads on the table. “You know it! Do you...do you have yours?”

Marinette smiled and nodded. She opened her bag and pulled out the bracelet he had given her for her birthday. Adrien felt his chest tighten in pride to see she kept hers with her, too. “I usually don’t wear it as a bracelet because I don’t want to lose it,” she explained. “But I always keep it with me! What can I say, it brings me good luck! Like having a partner like you.”

Both teenagers smiled at that comment. Adrien, for one, felt his heart race. He could actually hear Plagg groan in his jacket, so to cover the voice, Adrien cleared his throat. “I think lucky charms is a perfect option for us. Can you write us on the board before someone else takes it?” Marinette agreed and jumped up. As soon as she left, Adrien opened his jacket. “Plagg, shut up!” he hissed.

“Ugh, you two are just too sickeningly sweet to listen to. Blargh! This is too much cheese, even for me.”

Between his teeth, Adrien warned, “Just be quiet. I’m trying to get a project together!”

“Mmmhmm. I can feel your heartbeat, Adrien. I don’t think it’s the project that you want to get together.” Plagg rolled his eyes, but a single fang was popping out in the smallest of smiles. 

“Shush!” he said again as Marinette nearly returned to the seat.

Marinette was speaking before she even sat down. Luckily, she didn’t notice Adrien talking to his shirt. “I’m really excited. I think lucky charms are going to be a perfect thing for us to research together.”

“Yeah, and they’re one of the better options, too,” Adrien agreed, looking over the list. “Look at some of these. I know they’re just other cultures, probably, but look at the second one. Sweeping next to someone’s feet? I don’t even know if that’s good luck or bad luck!”

“Oh, I know that one!” Marinette said excitedly. “It’s a really old créole superstition. Alya’s mom told me about it. They say that if you sweep next to someone’s feet, they’ll never be ‘swept off their feet’. Basically, they’ll be lonely forever.”

Adrien made a noise of interest. “Is it just love, or lonely in general?”

“I think just love. Mme. Césaire said it was about marriage, specifically.”

“That’s better, at least. I still wouldn’t want that to happen to me...but I’d really like to just not be lonely.” He said with a low confessional voice.

Marinette looked softly at Adrien. She and he had a chat over the summer about Adrien’s father and his mother. Adrien remembered once moving her to sympathetic tears when he said his mother was the missing parent, but he still felt closer to her than his distant dad. She knew he was lonely and didn’t need to say anything. She just reached out to gently touch his knuckles. Then Marinette looked down at her desk.

“Me, too.”

_ That  _ surprised him. “You too, Marinette? But- but you have Luka, and your parents!”

Marinette gave a single, sarcastic laugh. “Yeah. I know. I don’t have an excuse...I shouldn’t feel lonely.” She bit her lip before looking back at her partner. “It’s not that I don’t have people. Or even that the people I have don’t spend time with me, or love me. It’s...a different kind of lonely. I’m lonely because, uh, I don’t think anybody really...really knows me, or is going through what I am going through.”

Marinette felt that way?! Adrien scooted closer, silently fascinated. Maybe that had something to do with her comment to Chat about being a heartbreaker...which she hadn't done yet, Adrien had very much noticed. Marinette swallowed and continued. “My friend described it really well, once. He said it’s like I have a present, a secret present that I want to give to someone. But I can’t tell them what it is, I don’t know when they’re getting it, if ever, and I can’t even tell them that I  _ have _ a present for them. So I get to spend my life never explaining it, or talking about it, or referencing it all. Even though it’s really important to me and really exciting.”

Adrien’s eyes went wide.  _ Oh, my god. That is totally what I told her! That’s what I told her about Ladybug! That means...she considers Chat Noir her friend! _ Marinette scrunched her eyebrows. “Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense,” Adrien said.  _ To me, at least. I said it!! _ “That’s really frustrating, Marinette. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” she said with a weak smile. She looked down at his hand still under her hand, and slowly pulled away. It felt very cold where she had once been. Adrien drummed his fingers on the desk, thinking. He had complained to Marinette about Ladybug keeping secrets, secrets that Chat Noir of course also kept, and somehow it had resonated with her. Huh. He wondered what secrets Marinette Dupain-Cheng could possibly be keeping that no one, not one person, could know about.

“Hey Marinette?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not going to pry. I won’t make you tell what your secret is...but I know how you feel. I’ve got, um, ‘secret presents’ too.” Her eyes bore into him. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable under the gaze and his vulnerability. “I know what it’s like to have stuff nobody can know about. It’s easier when you can talk about it.”

Marinette fell back in her chair. “Yeah, but I can’t. I’m sorry, Adrien, but I can’t and won’t tell you.”

“Oh! That’s not what I meant. I just meant that it’s easier when someone else knows that you  _ have _ a burden. You know, like if, um…”

“If they know you had a present for them, just not what’s inside?”

Adrien grinned. He was delighted she finished the analogy, because he really couldn’t think up a second explanation that wouldn’t give him away as Chat Noir. “Yeah! Exactly! And I know you’ve got a Something. You know I’ve got a Something. Or you do now, ‘cause I just told you. Maybe we can be there for each other. We can even give them names. Like my Something could be…” he looked around the classroom cluelessly. He had no idea where he was going with this, but anything to make Marinette feel less lonely was a good thing. Besides, he could use a friend to complain about the secret superhero life to, even in very vague terms. “Cookies.”

“Cookies?” Marinette laughed.

“Sure! Like I come in to class one day and say, ‘ugh, Marinette, my back hurts.’ You’d ask why, and I’d say ‘oh man it was all those Cookies.’”

She began to giggle madly behind her hand. She nodded, smiling. “Okay, sure! Then mine can be Lemonade. You’ll ask me why I look sad, and I can say it’s Lemonade.”

“Right! Instead of having to lie!”

Marinette’s eyes lit up at that comment. He seemed to get through to her. Her smile was infectious and he smiled right back. Of course the thing Marinette would like most about this plan is reducing any dishonesty. Of course! She was just so incredible and kind!

“I love it, Adrien. Let’s do it.” She put out a fist. 

“Bien Joué!” Adrien called, giving her a fist-bump. He caught a glimmer of a question in her eye, but Marinette didn’t press it and just smiled again.

“See? We are good luck to each other,” she said, pointing to their charms sitting side by side.

“Yeah, we are.” Adrien grinned. “I think we’re going to do really well on this project, too. We’ve already got the emotional attachment Mademoiselle Bustier is always talking about when picking a composition subject.” Mademoiselle gave the class a one minute warning. Everyone around them started packing up bags, finishing their first chats with their partners. Adrien packed up his as well, continuing his conversation with Marinette. “And you can come over to work on the project anytime you want. Just like over summer! We can hang out, too, and I can have a plate of dinner prepared for you.”

Marinette nodded. “That would be awesome. Or we can work on it at my place! I know it’s not as spacious-”

“Oh, I don’t mind, I love your house!”

“You do? Oh, oh good. And you know how my parents like to feed us when you’re over. They  _ adore _ you.” Marinette laughed to herself. “My mom actually said that she-” then, she froze. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

“What?”

Behind her hand, Adrien could see her face turning redder and redder. He started to laugh, too. “What did your mom say?”

“Nothing,” Marinette lied. “She said nothing!”

“Aw, I don’t mind! I’m not going to tease you!”

“Don’t worry about it, Adrien,” Marinette said hurriedly. “Just...we can go to my house. Or maybe your house is a better idea actually!” Her face was still red and she’d started to avoid Adrien’s eyes, talking extremely quickly about some of the ways they could research lucky charms and stumbling over her words the way she did last year. She shut up the second Mademoiselle Bustier cleared her throat to get the class’s attention.

When Mlle Bustier dismissed the class, Marinette was the first one out. Her books were clutched to her chest and she zipped out of there like she was escaping a burning building, not even waiting for Alya. Alya instead went to talk to Nino. The way their body language looked, he could tell they were laughing about something secret.

“Hey, Alya,” Adrien called out, moving towards them. 

Alya turned to see Adrien. She smiled. “Oh, hey, Adrien. What’s up?”

“This is weird, but, um, do you happen to know what Marinette’s mom might have said, maybe about me?”

“What, like that Sabine likes you?” Alya asked. “Or do you mean…” she looked in the direction Marinette ran off. “Oh….! Did Marinette start to tell you something her mom said and then chickened out and ran off?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, that’s exactly what she did. Do you know what she was going to say?” 

Alya threw back her head and laughed. She laughed so hard that she dropped her books and had to grab Nino for support, then grabbed Adrien’s hand. After catching her breath, she said quietly, “Oh, my little Marinette-choupette. Oh, la pauvre.[9] ”

 “What? What is it?” Adrien looked frantic now, worried it was something bad. Or worse, some girl secret he would never get to hear.

Alya moved her hand from Adrien’s hand to his shoulder. “She was probably about to tell you that Sabine told Marinette that you would be a good fit for her. Sabine said she likes  _ you _ better than she likes  _ Luka _ .” Adrien felt his heart rate increase.  _ Really? More than her boyfriend? _ Alya tapped his shoulder lovingly. “Frankly…” Alya looked to the side where Marinette had run off. “I don’t think Sabine’s the only one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1"Beurk": Yuck or Ew  
> 2"amoureux": technically means 'lover', but it's also used a lot with crush, significant other, romantic interest...saying 'lover' is too strong to be a true translation for what Chat means, but 'romantic interest' would be too weak.  
> 3"tais-toi": shut up. However, the French have a lot of ways to say "shut up" and this is probably the gentlest (above 'be quiet'). It's still playful and rude enough that you shouldn't say it to a child, but it would never offend a friend.  
> 4"Bien dis-donc!: An expression of surprise, like "Well, I'll be!" but without sounding like an old prospector.  
> 5 “Coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon dieu/ Coccinelle, demoiselle, envole toi jusqu’au cieux!”:
> 
> [This is the actual song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6yWzBtLiBU)
> 
> \- (Chat only sings the first partand uses it to write his own silly lyrics. He does not use the second part.) Translates to: Ladybug, little lady, creature of God/ Ladybug, little lady, fly up to heaven!  
> "Coccinelle, demoiselle, bête à bon chat/Coccinelle, demoiselle, j’adore même ton crachat"!: Ladybug, little lady, creature of good Cat/ Ladybug, little lady, I even love your spit!  
> “Coccinelle, demoiselle, héro de Paris/ Coccinelle, demoiselle, J’irais ton beau mari!”: Ladybug, little lady, hero of Paris/ Ladybug, little lady, I'm going to be your handsome husband!  
> 5"Bon Toussaint"/Toussaint Holidays: Toussaint is "All Saints Day", November 1st. It's a Catholic holiday that is very popular in France. For the purposes of our story, all you need to know is that the kids all across France get two weeks of school off for Toussaint/fall holiday. This year's (our story takes place in 2018) is from the 20th until November 4th.  
> 6"Arc-en-ciel/Balayer à côté des pieds/Chats noirs/Cocinelles/Croiser les doigts/Danse du parapluie/Fer a cheval/Marcher sous une échelle/Les miroirs misent en abyme/Les parapluies/Paquito/Porte-bonheur/Vendredi Treize/Vert": Rainbow, sweeping next to feet, black cats, ladybugs, crossing fingers, umbrella dance, horseshoe, walking under a ladder, mirrors reflecting each other, umbrellas, paquito (a southwestern France wedding tradition. It's cute-look it up), lucky charm, Friday the 13th, green.  
> 7 "j'adore les chats noirs....."le/les mix up: Marinette said "I love black cats, but since the 's' is usually silent in plural french words, like 'chats noirs', you only notice a plural through the use of 'les'. 'Le', singular 'the', is pronounced 'luh' and 'les', plural 'the', is pronounced 'lay'. If you say it fast enough (or if you are secretly hoping your crush likes you back), then you might mishear.  
> 8“Chloé BOURGEOIS et Alya C. -- les coccinelles alias[8] LADYBUG!!!!”: "Chloé Bourgeois and Alya C -- ladybugs aka LADYBUG!!!!" Also- Chloé used all capital letters in her last name not just because she was being obnoxious, but it's also very common culturally to write your surname in all capital letters.  
> 9"Marinette-choupette. Oh, la pauvre.": choupette means 'creampuff'. La Pauvre means 'poor thing' or 'poor baby' and it's awesome and gets used all the time.


	10. Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief heads up- this chapter is going to be a little awkward. I’ve placed our dear Marinette in an awkward situation that now she gets to deal with.
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy! We're pushing on and moving plot forward!!

It was a week and a day after Marinette and Adrien had been assigned project partners. She and her partner had, in that time, already found three times to get together and research outside of class. Once at school in the library, once at her house sharing a plate full of croissants, and once at his house over true Swiss raclette. And yet, it never seemed enough.

 Which is why Marinette was not surprised when she received a text from Adrien that Friday night. “Want to come over to work on the paper after my fencing lessons today? Dinner tonight is duck confit and I think you will like it!”

 Marinette automatically smiled when she saw the text come in. Tikki read over her shoulder, commenting, “Wow, that boy really likes to work with you! You two are going to be done so early!”

 “We just really want an A,” Marinette said. “And it’s probably a good thing we work so often, since we don’t get a lot done half the time,” she added with a laugh. She picked up her phone and started to type ‘sure!’ when she stopped herself. “Oh, wait…”

 “Did you almost forget about your date?” Tikki asked, flying over to the small picture of Luka tacked up on the bulletin board.

 “No!....maybe. But I remembered, and that’s what’s important,” she said. She typed out an apology to Adrien. ‘Sorry, I can’t do tonight. Luka and I have a double date with Rose and Juleka. Let’s do another night!’

 He replied only a minute later. ‘O too bad. :( The duck confit will miss you. Have fun! :)’

 She pulled her legs under her on the bed and immediately answered back. ‘I’ll have to make it up to the duck confit! What can I do?’ Tikki made a soft humming noise behind Marinette’s head. “What, Tikki?” She asked.

 “That sounded a little flirty, Marinette…”

 “No, it’s not! I’m just being silly. I’m just teasing with my friend.”

 Her phone buzzed in her hand. Adrien replied, ‘The duck confit really shouldn’t be so jealous, since it sees you at its house so much. But the duck confit would love to have you for dinner another night, then! And it certainly hopes you don’t have any OTHER duck confit tonight! :O’

 Marinette giggled at the silly text. Tikki sat on her shoulder. “Just being silly? Does he know that??”

 “I’m sure he does, Tikki. He’s just Adrien. Adrien has never liked me like that.”

 “Oh, Marinette,” Tikki sighed.

 Marinette looked back at the text then back to her kwami. Okay, so it did look a little suspicious. And if she had been this time last year, she’d be hyperventilating into a bag, calling Alya, and overanalyzing for hours over that text. “Maybe you’re right about some of it, Tikki. Here...I’ll say goodbye.” She typed out, ‘I’m sure your duck confit is unparalleled. I’ll text you when I get home. Have fun at fencing practice!’ She hit send and turned to Tikki. “Is that better?”

 “Marinette, would you rather be with Adrien than going on this date tonight?”

 Immediately, Marinette knew the answer. _Yes._ And that answer was a huge problem. She felt her face drop as she thought about the truth.

 “Oh, Marinette!” Tikki flew over to her and hugged her face. “Oh, Marinette. It’s okay! You have loved Adrien for so long. It couldn’t possibly just go away with one summer. But you shouldn’t stay with Luka if you _still_ love Adrien more than him. It isn’t fair!”

 “I don’t...I don’t still love Adrien,” Marinette argued weakly.

 Tikki looked like she didn’t want to fight that. Instead, she took such a deep breath it floated her a few inches upwards. “Let’s just have a wonderful time tonight. You should talk to Luka about this afterwards, though.”

 “Adrien doesn’t even like me. I just want to hang out with a friend!”

 “...but should you want to be with a friend more than your boyfriend? Is that a good sign?” Marinette thought about Tikki’s words carefully. _Especially when I haven’t seen my boyfriend as recently as I saw the friend._

 Groaning, Marinette fell backwards onto her bed. “Why am I so bad at love?”

 “It’s only your first relationship, Marinette,” Tikki reminded her softly. “Be kind to yourself. It takes practice! And you can’t know who you truly love until you know what you don’t click with. You’re a great girl and you’ve been a good girlfriend. But you need to be kind to all three of your boys.”

 “All _three?_ ”

 “Yeah, Chat Noir loves you, too!”

 “Oh là là,” Marinette groaned, rolling face down onto her bed. “But he loves _Ladybug_ ,” she said, waving a finger around.

 “And how does _Ladybug_ feel about him? How do _you_ feel?”

 “I don’t know!” Marinette cried out. “I didn’t even know he had real feelings for me or real emotions in general until a few months ago, and suddenly he’s all...friendly and chatty on my balcony, caring about Ladybug, cracking jokes, singing songs, looking out for me...he shouldn’t count at all. He doesn’t love Marinette, just _Ladybug_ , and that’s...not…the same thing.”

 Tikki was quiet. She started to reply twice in two different ways. Finally she said, “Sorry I brought him up. You’re already stressed. Let’s just get you ready for a fun night.”

 “I’m a failure, aren’t I, Tikki?”

 “Oh, Marinette, nobody thinks that.”

 “I didn’t want to have a failed relationship...but now it’s...I let it go on too long, didn’t I? And I’ve hurt Chat Noir, and I’m can’t get my head away from Adrien, and...I couldn’t even do _one relationship right_.”

 Tikki pouted, then flew directly in front of Marinette’s drawn face. “Marinette, unless you end up married for the rest of your life, all relationships come to an end. Yours is...ending. And that’s okay! That’s _okay_. You were not a bad girlfriend. But you will be if you stay on this bed instead of going on a date with your friends.”

 Marinette rolled again and groaned, loud and long. She sometimes hated how right Tikki was all the time. Eventually Tikki dragged Marinette off of her bed. They picked a flattering outfit- a blue and white striped sun dress with a red jacket that she had embroidered with small white polka dots. Marinette did her hair nicely and put on makeup, Tikki flew into her jacket, then they went downstairs to the boulangerie.

 “Oh, mon coeur![1] You look like the French Flag,” Sabine wiped her hands on her aprons and walked over to Marinette.

 Marinette’s eyes went wide. “Is that bad? Should I change??”

 “Oh! Marinette, no, I’m sorry! I’m just no good at complimenting your outfits. I think you look wonderful!”

 “Maman, you scared me!”

Tom patted a floury hand on his wife’s small shoulder. “Chèrie, it’s like this.” He spun once, then pranced his enormous self over towards Marinette, holding her hands and saying dramatically, “Marinette, my darling! You look extraordinary! A dream! A vision! A vision of a dream! Like the sun is shining on France’s dewy plains and time has turned to a simpler age of courtship and milkshakes.” Marinette laughed, making Tom smile. “Too much, or just right?”

“Maybe a bit too much, Papa,” Marinette said, “But you do know how to make a girl feel loved!”

“I’ll agree with that!” Sabine said, raising her hand. She tucked herself into Tom’s side, smiling softly at her daughter. “You do look beautiful. I just hope that boy deserves it…!”

“ _Maman!_ ” Marinette reprimanded.

She put her hands up in the air. “What? I’m not saying anything bad. Just that you’re a wonderful girl and deserve to be incredibly happy and to feel incredibly loved.” Under Marinette’s jacket, Tikki buzzed in agreement.

“Luka is very loving, Maman. He is so nice to me.” Marinette said the words, and she knew they were true, but they felt hollow.

“I know, mon coeur. He’s a wonderful first boyfriend.” Sabine sighed and turned back to her croissants. “I remember my first summer fling…Jean-Stephan, when I was just a year younger than you. What a fun summer we had!”

Tom turned to look at Sabine, asking, “But Sabine, it’s October.”

She raised an eyebrow at Tom, giving him a look that Marinette could read clearly as _that’s the point, Tom_ , even if she hadn’t meant to say it out loud in front of their daughter.

Then the bell on their door jingled as a customer walked in.

In poor French, the man said, “Um...par-don, parlay voo Ahnglay?”

Tom grinned at Marinette and waved her forwards. He spoke English fluently enough for all their English-speaking customers and liked Marinette to practice the way he had learned; from behind the counter. Marinette looked nervously at her dad and stepped up to the tourist.

“Yeas sir, ‘ow can I ‘elp you?” She asked in English. She chanced a glance back and saw both parents grinning, Tom giving a thumbs up.

“Oh, great. Thank you! I’d like one mille-f...feeyul.”

“Mille-feuille?” Marinette asked, pointing to the pastry in the window in question.

“Yeah, that one. One _mill-foy_ , two plain croissants, one chocolate eclair, and...do you sell crème brûlée?”

“Non, sir. But we are very liked for our macarons. Zey are over ‘ere,” she suggested, pointing at the ever popular little cakes. Marinette recognized all the staples of the American Tourist order, and her parents had taught her well that macarons were an easy upsell.

“Ooh, that would be fun! Yes, I’ll take a box.”

“Very good, sir. I will get it.” Marinette’s mother had already bagged most of her order and was smiling at her, full of pride. Sabine didn’t know English as well as Tom, or even as well as Marinette (she claimed knowing two forms of Chinese and French was more than enough), but she knew when her daughter did well.

Marinette finished by telling the man his price and giving him his change- also all in English, then sighed in relief when he left. When the door shut, it was as if French was once again allowed and Marinette could breathe. Tom laughed heartily and clapped her on the shoulder. “You did it! Oh, oops,” He grabbed a towel and dusted the flour off her shoulder. “You did great, Marinette.”

“Papa, I’ve helped customers in English before,”

“I know, but I’m always so proud,” he said. From the way he beamed, she believed it, too. She would have to tell Adrien! He had helped when a Chinese tourist came in earlier that week and Sabine was on break. He said it was Marinette’s turn next. Looks like she followed through!

The bell jingled again. Tom looked over Marinette’s shoulder at the door. “Oh look, someone else to practice your English with!”

Marinette turned and saw Luka in the doorway, smiling and waving. “Oh, Luka! Good evening! I just helped an American!”

“That’s really cool, Marinette,” Luka said. He walked over and greeted both of her parents kindly. Marinette was pleased to see them greet him politely right back. Nothing embarrassing this time. “Juleka and Rose are already in the rickshaw. Are you ready to go?”

“Ooh, a rickshaw?” Sabine asked, eyes twinkling. “Be safe and have fun. And be back by 10:30!”

“Okay, maman. I love you both!”

Luka held Marinette’s hand and led her out of the boulangerie. The rickshaw was waiting with a bicyclist in front, Rose and Juleka sitting in the back. Rose waved excitedly. “Hi, Marinette! Look, a rickshaw! It was my idea, I told Luka you really like rickshaws!”

“I do, Rose,” Marinette said with an honest smile. Luka helped her up to sit next to his sister. “That was very kind. Thank you!” She greeted Juleka and gave her a soft hug. Luka bid the rickshaw-driver to go and they headed off. “Juleka, how are you?”

“I’m good,” she said softly. “I like school so far. Rose and I are going to do _Les miroirs misent en abyme,_ Mirrors reflecting the abyss forever, for our project. I think it’s going to be super interesting. The abyss is really cool and the superstitions about it are, too.”

“I wanted to do the rainbow one,” Rose said, “But Juleka was so excited about the abyss thing. We compromised and I’m going to put rainbows on our poster! How’s your project going, Marinette?”

“It’s going really well,” she said. Marinette turned to Luka to catch him up. “Remember the lucky charm project I told you about?”

“Oh yeah, for composition class. I did that last year. I wrote about the horseshoe.”

Rose piped up again. “Is Adrien a good partner?”

“He’s great,” Marinette said, smiling. “We’ve got a lot of research done already.”

Luka squinted. “I didn’t know Adrien was your partner. From the band?”

Marinette shrugged. “It’s no big deal. We hung out a lot over summer, remember?”

“Yeah, I do…” Luka said.

Marinette felt Juleka shift uncomfortably next to her. She was looking at her girlfriend, Rose sharing a similar look that Marinette couldn’t quite read. Rose was quick to change the subject, though. “I love your dress, Marinette. Did you make it yourself?”

“I did, thanks, Rose!” Marinette beamed. “I made the jacket, too.”

“They look very nice, Marinette,” Luka complimented.

Juleka agreed, “I wish I could sew like that.”

“I’d love to practice with you some time,” Marinette said.

“I think you should give lessons, Marinette,” Luka said. “You’ve sold your pieces before. You could do paid lessons, too.”

“I don’t think I want to do paid lessons,” Marinette said quickly. “I’m not confident enough.”

“You should be! You’re obviously good. You have to get more confident, Marinette. It’s the only way you’re going to make it as your own brand.”

Marinette bit her lip, holding back an _I’ve told you, I don’t want to make my own brand_. “I am working on my confidence. I’m a lot more confident than I was a few years ago.” She turned to Juleka, who had similarly grown up since her time as Reflekta. “Right, Juleka?”

“Um...yeah, you have…” she looked quickly to Rose, who played with her skirt. Juleka looked back at Marinette. “So, what inspired your dress?”

The rest of the rickshaw ride proceeded similarly, one short and stunted conversation topic to the next. It shouldn’t have been as awkward as it felt- she was good friends with everyone in the rickshaw! But somehow, every topic ended up being sore somehow either for Luka or herself.

After a fifteen minute ride that felt like an hour, the quartet of teenagers arrived at their outdoor cafe. They thanked and tipped the driver and climbed out of the rickshaw. Quickly, the host found them a table and got them menus, quickly confirming their ages first. They ordered a round of waters and read over the menus.

Marinette could hear Luka discussing the menu and knew he was looking for something new and exotic. She also loved to try the new food, but something domestic on the menu caught her eye. Marinette giggled to herself and pulled out her phone. She quickly snapped a picture of the offering for ‘canard confit’.

“What’s funny?” Rose asked, peeking over her shoulder.

“Nothing, it’s just an inside joke.” Marinette moved the phone to her lap to send the picture to Adrien, along with the message, ‘Oh, the temptation!’

Rose, sitting to her right, was peeking and saw who it sent to. She looked at Marinette quizzically. Marinette caught her eye and knew very well that if Luka hadn’t been sitting to Marinette’s left, Rose would have asked about thirty different questions. Instead, she leaned over to Juleka and whispered in her ear.

“Are you going to get the duck confit, then?” Luka asked Marinette, looking at her menu. “Have you tried it before?”

“I haven’t tried anything here before,” Marinette said, “But no, I’m not getting the duck confit.” She giggled. Rose looked at her with concern. Why was she looking at her with _concern?_ “I’m thinking about the steak tartare. You?”

“Les brochette de st jacques fraiche”, he said, then in English, “ _Scallops kabob_.”

“ _Kabob_ !” Rose squeaked, repeating the English. “ _Kabob_! That’s a fun word!”

She and Juleka also had their orders ready, so they called the waiter over and put in the order. Then, Rose leading the way by repeating, “kabob kabob kabob kabob”, the four of them recited some of their favorite foreign words. After a few passed around some favorites, Marinette admitted, “I’ve always liked the English ‘Ladybug’.”

“Like the superhero!” Juleka said, sitting up excitedly. “I love Ladybug.”

Luka smiled tightly. “Why do you think her name’s English anyway? Isn’t she the hero of Paris?”

Juleka answered her brother, “Yeah, but there are English people in Paris, too.”

Rose added, “Maybe she just liked the word!”

Juleka giggled and nudged her date. “So, if you were a superhero, would you call yourself _Kabob_?”

“Maybe... _Kaboom-Kabob!_ ” Rose said with wild gesticulation. All four of them laughed. She turned to Marinette. “What do you think? Do you think she’s really French? Why the English name? Why ladybugs? I don’t get that with Spiderman, either. Why a bug? Bugs aren’t strong!”

“They are lucky…” Marinette said, shrugging. “And Spiderman got bit by a radioactive spider, so it’s not like he had a lot of choices. But I think she’s probably more about the...uh...luck.”

“You’re right,” Luka interjected, pointing a finger. “So she’s the good luck, and Chat Noir is the bad luck. Like a yin-yang thing.”

“I think that’s the point, yeah,” Marinette said.

“Kind of sucks to be stuck to your partner that way. What if they break up?”

Oh right, Luka thought they were dating. Rose answered for Marinette, saying, “Luka, everybody knows they’re not dating. Not _yet_ ! But they’re _so in love_ , it’s only a matter of time.”

Marinette felt her cheeks get hot. This was even worse than getting caught texting Adrien. At least Rose wanted her to stay faithful to her date when she was texting...this was like she was encouraging Marinette to stray!

“White rabbits are lucky, too,” Juleka said. “She could have been a rabbit. Then it would have been a white rabbit and a black cat.”

“ _White Rabbit_ ,” Luka said dramatically in English. He switched back to French. “Or maybe she would match her partner. _Lapine Blanche et Chat Noir._ I still don’t get why _she’s_ in English and _he’s_ in French.”

Marinette had read this discussion enough times on the Ladyblog. There were as many theories as there were words in the French language. She shrugged and added, “Maybe it was super last minute and she just liked the word ‘Ladybug’. It’s cool. Like Rose’s kaboom-kabob.”

Luka laughed. “I know if I were a superhero, I would have put a little more thought into it than just picking my favorite English word. Otherwise, I would be ‘Persnickity-Man’.” Rose and Juleka laughed and, although mildly frustrated at the insinuation that she had been lazy, Marinette chuckled too.

When dinner had just arrived, Marinette felt her phone vibrate. Marinette nearly jumped in her seat. _Adrien must have replied!_ She was eager to see what it was and when she went to grab her phone caugh Rose’s eye instead. Her expression wasn’t quite disappointment or control...but more pity. Rose put a hand to touch Marinette’s. That was the first hand that had touched Marinette’s since the rickshaw, although Rose and Juleka had held hands up until the food arrived. Rose softly shook her head.

Marinette put her hand back on the table and grabbed her fork instead. What had Adrien said back? Did he think it was funny? Surely he was finished with fencing by now. Maybe he had sent a picture of their duck confit dinner! He told her often that he loved having company for dinner, since Gabriel normally ate dinner in his atelier. Marinette wanted to work for the Agreste fashion label but she truly hoped Gabriel’s social habits didn’t rub off on her. Adrien was always so sad whenever the topic of his dad came up, and so hopeful when there was even a shred of affection. It was almost like-

“What do you think, Marinette?” Luka’s voice broke through her thoughts.

Marinette’s eyes went up to meet her boyfriend’s, hopeful and smiling. “Um...what was the question?”

Luka’s smile faltered. “You didn’t hear?”

“Sorry, I was, uh, thinking about my dinner.”

“More interesting than your boyfriend’s story about visiting your own mother country, is it?” he asked, his voice sounding tired.

“China?”

“ _Yes_ , China. Where was your head?”

Marinette couldn’t answer. “Sorry. Say it again?”

Luka waved his hand. “I’ll tell you later,” he grumbled.

“We don’t mind hearing it again,” Rose said, trying to be helpful.

“I do,” Juleka said. “I hear about his China trip all the time.”

“At least you listen,” Luka said, stabbing a fork into his scallop.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette apologized quietly. The quiet of her answer fell over the entire group and they ate in relative silence. Without their talking, the music, chatter, and clanking of silverware of the cafe became much louder. And Marinette’s mind wandered back to the Agreste mansion again. This time, though, she caught herself. _Okay, I’ll admit it. I would rather be there than here._

Rose and Juleka started talking amongst themselves, and though they tried to include Luka and Marinette, the one was now sullen and the other despondent.

Marinette checked her phone, not to read her texts (which were very tempting, as she had three (three!) from Adrien and one from Alya), but to check the time. She didn’t think meeting her mother’s curfew would be a problem tonight. Twirling her fork around the empty plate, Marinette watched Rose and Juleka talk.

The two were animated, eyes on each other and smiles wide. Rose would get in four sentences for each one of Juleka’s, but she treated Juleka’s words like they were the weightiest, most brilliant things ever said over a dinner table. Rose could make Juleka giggle, and Juleka could make Rose pout. The pouting would make her giggle even more. Oh, how Marinette wanted something like that. Easy. Comfortable. They tangled their fingers without thinking about it.

But she _had_ had that easy and comfortable relationship over summer. At least over the first part of summer, before Luka got sick of her running off mid-date, not answering texts until after she’d beaten the akuma. She had been giving one sentence to every four of his. It had been great! It also hadn’t lasted. Marinette looked over at her boyfriend, now on _his_ phone, and then looked down. She didn’t want to stick with something she didn’t enjoy, just because she had at one point enjoyed it.

Frankly, the same thought applied to this double date.

The date became worse and worse as Marinette’s stomach fell through her body and to her feet. It was now not just a date, but a pre-breakup. The air was heavy with dread, weighing down her shoulders and head. Worse still, the group ordered dessert, and the mere idea of extending the night made the normally sweet-toothed Marinette feel a little sick. At least she could sneak it into her jacket for the voracious kwami hiding inside.

Marinette’s phone started to buzz furiously. A louder buzz than even a call. _What on earth?_ She dug out her phone and looked at it. Luka spoke up. “Marinette, are you answering a phone call?”

This was no phone call, though. Luckily for Marinette and incredibly unlucky for the Arc de Triomphe, an akuma had been sighted. Her Paris 4 Paris app, a crowd-sourced app that alerted when an akuma attack was sighted, had gone off. “Um...yes, I am,” she lied. “It’s my maman. I have to take it, I think it’s an emergency.”

She stood up and stepped a meter away, ignoring Luka’s complaints of, “but what about dessert?” and opened her app.

“Hello, Maman?” she asked.

The phone replied mid-message, “-KUMA ATTACK HAS BEGUN AT PLACE CHARLES DE GAULLE-”

“Oh, really? That sounds terrible!”

“-ALL USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO-”

“Right now? We just ordered dessert!” Marinette looked at her group apologetically.

“-CUATE THE AREA UNTIL HELP-”

“Aw, okay. I’m on my way. Tell Papa not to move!”

“-AKE ANY TOURISTS TO SAFE-”

“Love you too, Maman!” Marinette closed the phone, hoping they hadn’t heard the loud voice on the other side clear enough to know the truth. “I’m so sorry, guys.”

“Is your papa okay?” Juleka asked, concerned.

God, she hated lying. “He will be, hopefully! He slipped in the kitchen and Maman needs help right now. So sorry, everyone!” She put a few Euros into Luka’s hand. Marinette knew he would want to pay, but considering she had been planning on dumping him just two minutes earlier, that seemed a little rude. “Goodnight, I’ll call you later.”

Marinette ran into the street as fast as she could and turned into an empty alley to transform. For once in her life, she was truly grateful that someone, somewhere, was having a worse night than she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "mon coeur": Literally "my heart"- a term of endearment used like "sweetheart". I picked this one because the French Mom I lived with called her only daughter 'mon coeur'. 
> 
> Wow, guys. The teenagers talked ABOUT French and I only have one translation. Since they translated themselves for everything, I have nothing else to put down here. Go team!


	11. Puissaimant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello to new and not-as-new readers! This fic got recommended so last chapter saw some new faces. You joined at a cool cool time...  
> We have a very short, action-y chapter today! Buckle up because it's important.  
> (It's important, but this is still a slow-burn, so we're gonna keep on simmering)

Adrien sat alone at the dinner table. Well, not alone, but Nathalie was on her tablet, silent as death, so he might as well have been alone. He hated eating alone, so it was nice to have his phone and Marinette as a distraction. He would much, much, _much_ rather have her joining them than being away. But being able to text and think of her still felt okay- and if she was sending him funny pictures of the menu, hey, it was apparently free game to text during the date.

 _The date_ , Adrien thought once again, bitterly. It had been over a month since Marinette had told Chat Noir her relationship was on the outs. Sure, she hadn't given details. But Adrien had started to pay attention. Luka rarely brought her up in maths class. Marinette had never liked talking about Luka to Adrien in the first place, so that hadn't changed. But their interactions in the hallway seemed...hollow. Even when he hid behind lockers to watch them in deserted hallways and Plagg called him a stalker. Plagg could yell at Adrien all he wanted, but what mattered was that Luka and Marinette weren't exactly hiding some fervent passion. Besides, he only did that...two or three times.

He'd also started getting weekly check-ups from Alya. Adrien was so sneaky about it, he was sure Alya didn't notice. Every Tuesday at the beginning of Chemistry, Adrien would bring up Nino and his relationship...easy to do, since that relationship was with Alya. And then, ever so politely and without causing any suspicion, he'd ask, 'And how is your best friend and her relationship?'. Alya would respond, 'You mean Marinette?', Adrien would shrug, say 'sure!', and then Alya would give him that sweet intel. It was a pattern they'd both grown so used to that Alya sometimes even texted Adrien herself with updates, or was the one to start The Marinette Conversation in Chemistry. Alya seemed just as impatient for her friend to end things with Luka as Adrien was.

And okay, Adrien admitted he was a little jealous. But just because he liked spending time with Marinette! He wasn't jealous that Luka was  _dating_ her...kissing her...holding her...to be jealous, Adrien would have to want to do those things just the way Luka did, right? And he didn't want to kiss Marinette the way Luka did. No way. He wasn't jealous of Luka, because Adrien wanted _better_ for her. His best friend had spent an entire month in a relationship without any passion, and Adrien didn't want her to suffer like that.

She deserved relationships that made her smile and laugh, kisses that made her breathless like in the movies, and dates to all the secret parts of Paris that Chat Noir...or, uh, someone else...had found. She deserved a boy who waited at her locker, who wanted to be with her, who was so proud of Marinette that he told all his friends and classmates about his girlfriend, who could talk to her about her Lemonade, whom she could trust. Marinette deserved to go on dates that would be so great, so incredible, she wouldn't _want_ to text someone else. Marinette deserved a boyfriend who was interested in every story she told, even the ones where she couldn't and wouldn't tell him every secret detail, the way Adrien felt interested when her eyes lit up, telling him why she was  _really_ late to class.

So no, Adrien wasn't jealous of Luka and Marinette's relationship. He was just ready for it to end so she could have something better.

For Marinette's sake. Not for Adrien's. 

Anyway.

He’d taken multiple pictures of the duck confit before actually eating, including one where the duck confit was cut and rearranged to look like a frowny face. He imagined Marinette's face when she would open it up and see it...hopefully, she would smile and laugh! Originally, he’d made a heart, but decided that would send the wrong message. Now that his dinner was finished and he and Nathalie were just waiting for dessert, Adrien was in the process of editing yet another picture to send Marinette. Something else to keep her entertained and thinking of him. Adrien was adding a mustache to the dinner when a notification dropped down from the top of his phone.

He had the TVi app on his phone for breaking news updates just like these. He tapped it, volume down as low as he could, and listened to Nadja Chamak warn viewers of danger near the Arc de Triomphe. “This new akumatized supervillian, who goes by the name Puissaimant, is extremely dangerous and seems to be able to manipulate metal. Ladybug is already on the scene, so we only await Chat Noir and a quick clean-up. All Parisians are strongly-” Adrien put the phone away immediately, grabbing his plate. All thoughts of dinner, both his own and Marinette's, were set aside.

“Nathalie, I just realized I’m really full. Mind if I go up to my room and practice piano?”

“That would be fine, Adrien,” Nathalie said, not looking up from her tablet. “It’s probably best if you don’t have dessert anyway.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Have a good night, Nathalie.”

Nathalie looked up. She blinked before answering. The pause read like surprise to Adrien. “You too.”

Adrien tried to walk normally and calmly up the stairs to his room. Once he got up, he opened his shirt for Plagg. “Plagg! It’s time!”

“For the cheese plate? You’re absolutely right, so I have no idea why we’re not downstairs!”

“No, gourmand.” He waved the phone and the TVi app in front of his face. “Akuma attack!”

Plagg’s ears drooped and he sighed slightly. “Can’t we have a safe weekend at home for once?”

“Not while Hawkmoth is out there,” Adrien said, steel in his voice. Amusing Marinette would need to wait. “I’ve got a job to do and people to protect. Plagg! Transform me!”

Plagg flew around and into Adrien’s ring as the leather suit crawled up his skin and over his body. Adrien loved the rush and feel of turning into Chat Noir. He didn’t rest on it long, though. Chat Noir turned on his iPod, set it on the piano, and leapt out the window. It was time to join his partner and do what they were meant to do.

By the time he reached the Place de Charles de Gaulle, the normal hectic traffic in the roundabout had come to a standstill. Perched on top of a stopped semi, Chat looked around at the bizarre scene. He quickly realized it was because the Parisians had all abandoned their cars- doors hung open, car alarms wailed, and a few even wiped their windshield wipers frantically. He looked around for Ladybug and thought he caught sight of her- a flash of red and black. But then that flash of red and black whizzed past his head, nearly knocking Chat off the semi, and he realized that was no Ladybug. That was a car! “You could have signalled next time!” Chat yelled after the car.

A voice responded to his joke, yelling out, “Chat Noir! Down here!” Chat looked for the voice and saw Ladybug near the arch, waving him over. As she waved, the akumatized person raised their hands and a lamp post flew out of the ground like a daisy. He waved his hands and the lamppost flew at Ladybug. She dodged it as easy as a jump rope, which made the villain furious.

Chat leapt off the semi and darted between the cars towards his partner. “Sorry for being late, I was stuck in traffic,” he said.

Ladybug responded by yanking Chat as they ran past more attacks of flying traffic signs, eyes on the villain the entire time. “He goes by ‘Puissaimant’. As in-”

Chat looked at the villain as well. He was short with a grey cloak over his entire body with red cuffs and piping. It closed at an angle, meeting at his chest, reading as if a gray version of Napoleon Bonaparte’s cloak. Completing the image, he wore a tight light-grey buttoned shirt and riding pants, tucked into red high-heeled boots. On his head, instead of a bicorn hat, he wore a helmet that ended in an upside-down grey arch tipped in red. He could tell immediately what the villain was representing- especially with a pun in his name. “As in _powerful magnet! [1] _”

“That’s right. So he can control anything with metal.”

Puissaimant roared at the two heroes, walking towards them from the stopped traffic. “Stop moving, little bug!” He magnetically yanked an “Attention” warning sign from the ground. The floating sign started to swat down towards Ladybug and Chat. They ran in two directions and he kept swatting at Ladybug like a flyswatter. “Annoying little bug!” Chat noticed how the upturned magnet on his head seemed to sparkle with blue electricity as he controlled the traffic sign. But there was no way in hell Chat was going to just sit by and watch him try to flatten the love of his life. He turned tail and rain directly towards them, planning to vault and tackle the floating sign.

“Hey, short stuff! Don’t you know it’s bad luck to swat a ladybug?” Chat yelled.

Still running, Ladybug yelled, “Wait, Chat!” to no avail. He pulled out his baton and extended it to vault up. However, as he hit the ground running, Puissaimant just smirked and opened his hand, then closed it. Chat’s baton crumpled underneath him. “What?! My baton!”

Luckily for both of them, he didn’t seem able to control two things at once and the sign clattered to the ground, giving Ladybug enough time to run to Chat’s side. “You have to stop rushing and _listen to me_ ,” she said, pulling him up from the ground. “He can control my yo-yo, too. Watch!” She tossed her yo-yo directly at his head and Puissaimant flipped his hand back. The yo-yo returned just as fast as it had gone out, narrowly missing Ladybug’s face. “We have to figure something else out to stop him.”

Puissaimant sent a beeping car flying at both of them. When Chat ducked, Ladybug leapt up, managing to run through the open car doors and land deftly on the ground next to him. Chat looked back at Ladybug, impressed by her evasion. “That’s what I call a quick car ride!”

“Thanks...but any idea how we can beat him without our weapons?”

“I’m certainly charged to figure out an idea,” Chat growled. Ladybug dodged another car, this one flying past and knocking off a corner of the Arc before continuing into the sky, then falling and crumbling the ground below it. They lept and dodged more traffic signs and cars, but both knew they couldn’t win by purely defense.

Puissaimant seemed to know the same thing. He was looking happier and happier. “Come on, kitty. Little bug. You know you can’t beat me! Just give me your Miraculouses! I promise I can clean up this mess. I’m not interested in this rock anyway,” Puissaimant laughed. “I have an icon that is much more...metallic in mind.”

Immediately, Chat knew where Puissaimant would go if they would let him. “The Eiffel tower!” Chat said, looking at Ladybug in horror. He could easily imagine what a Puissaimant could do to the symbol of Paris. In his mind’s eye, he saw it walking around the city, crushing civilians under four metal feet. “We can’t let him get there. He’ll magneterrorize the city!”

“It’s not like Place du Charles de Gaulle is much better with all these cars!” Ladybug said. “We have to get him somewhere less metal-y.”

“What, like Normandy?!”

“Do you have a better idea, Chat?”

He grabbed her hand as they ducked under a flying Vespa. “You don’t think that sounds wonderful? I’d love to take you to Normandy after this. A little cabin on the beach…” he leapt over a bent park bench, “two glasses of trou normand…” she ducked under a fire hydrant, “and of course plenty of fish and seafood!” he leapt to the right, backing directly into Ladybug, as a bus flew past and crashed into the Arc de Triomphe, crumbling the La Marseillaise statue. He was cheek to cheek with her, so he took advantage of the chance to nuzzle her face. “Imagine the stars in the Normandy skies!”

Ladybug to a step to the side. “I’d like to start by making _him_ see stars,” She said, picking up a fallen road sign and smacking down a flying bicycle. “Besides, I’m more of a Brittany girl myself, if we’re going to the Northern coast.” She held her road sign like a baseball bat again and smacked a second bicycle.

Chat paused and stared wide-eyed at Ladybug. “My lady!” He called out in delighted shock. “A joke _and_ you’re planning our next vacation with me? I’ll-”

Ladybug didn’t get to hear what Chat planned to say, as Puissaimant had grown tired of her bat and yanked it up, Ladybug screaming in tow. The sign and Ladybug swatted Chat back, all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

“Chat!” Ladybug yelled, running after him.

“Oh, leave your pet alone, Ladybug. It will be much faster to get _your_ miraculous first!” Puissaimant laughed. He sent the chain fences flying and they circled the Arc tightly, wrapping around the stone pillars.

“You can’t keep this cat in a cage!” Chat hissed as he climbed back to his feet. He ran to leap over the chain fences...smacking face-first into the metal safety barriers Puissaimant had barricaded against the Arc. The metal was stacked thickly together. He climbed the fences, looking for a weak point, but it had been arranged better than he could easily knock out of place. “Don’t lay a finger on her,” he threatened.

“Or what? You’ll spit on me? What are you going to do with no weapon and inside a cage, Chat Noir?”

“Chat! Figure out a way out, I’ll fight him from here!” Ladybug yelled. She was confident, that was for sure, but what was Ladybug going to do? They were losing when it was the two of them!

Blinded by panic, Chat decided to do the very first thing that came to mind. He yelled for a Cataclysm. Chat’s bubbling hand touched the metal barricade and it all immediately rusted and crumpled. Chat pushed through the dust to run towards them both.

Puissaimant had turned around to face Ladybug. He turned back at the noise and rolled his eyes. “Stay in your seat, flea bag!” He lifted his hand. Chat felt the oddest sensation as he felt his baton, currently in its resting position on his lower back, extend into his back, lifting him off the ground.

“Woah, not cool, man! This is animal cruelty!” The baton lifted Chat high and flung him back under the Arc de Triomphe. His headpiece glowing all the while, Puissaimant drove car after car up to the arc, quickly piling them and trapping Chat yet again. Chat tried to run to any open spot, finding none. Tauntingly, his ring beeped. _Putain_ [2], this was even worse!

The cars were piled so thick that it was difficult to hear what was happening outside his prison. However, as he climbed around the walls of the prison, he found a car with windows pointing right at the action. Ladybug was still dodging metal ammo and it looked like he wasn’t running out any time soon. “Go get ‘em, Ladybug!” Chat yelled. “Fight him! Beat him! You got this!” He banged on the glass as if it would help. Chat hated feeling helpless. It hurt even more the way she kept glancing back towards the Arc de Triomphe parking terrace he was imprisoned in.

In one of the moments where Ladybug looked back towards Chat, A lamp post flew towards Ladybug. “NO!!” Chat yelled, smacking the plexiglass again and denting it under a spiderweb of cracks. But the post didn’t _hit_ her- it seemed to bend in midair and curl around her like a boa constrictor. The bottom part of the lamp post straightened out, lifting Ladybug high into the sky, tauntingly closer to Chat’s view, and perfectly trapped in the lamp post’s metal grip. He could see her well enough to see panic in her beautiful blue eyes. Chat smacked the cracking window harder, but the plexiglass bent stubbornly without breaking.

Helpless. They were both helpless. Chat whined loudly, flexing his fingers in a nervous tick. “ _Ladybug,_ ” he whined quietly.  In the same high pitch, his ring beeped again. Chat ignored it. “ _Ladybug, no!!_ ” She wasn’t supposed to be the one getting trapped! She was the one with the good luck! And she looked panicked at her sudden loss of said luck. Ladybug’s head swiveled from the ground back to Chat’s prison. She found him through the window and yelled for help, then looked back at the ground below. Puissaimant was dramatically stacking metal cars and benches to create a staircase up to Ladybug’s place of capture. Where was her freaking good luck?!

Good luck! Literally embodying bad luck had made Adrien more superstitious than he had ever been. He unzipped his pocket and yanked out his Marinette Good Luck Charm. Methodically, he started to rub the beads, praying to any saint, god, or force of the universe that could change their luck. Save her! _Save her!_

Ladybug’s voice was faint through the piles of cars, but he could hear her screaming for him as she writhed in panic. Watching her made it worse, really. She looked right at him, screaming out “Chat Noir! Help!” Her eyes locked with his and then dropped to the green and pink beads on his lucky charm. Ladybug stopped twitching immediately as she stared at the lucky charm and the way Chat was rubbing it like a rosary. Her eyes went back up to meet his- or at least, Chat thought they did. His own eyes were filling with terrified tears, so it was hard to tell. Chat put his charm away and wiped away the tears.

She snapped back into motion as Puissaimant climbed closer. He had a terrifying, greedy smile on his face. One hand lifted more metal into his staircase and the other reached out to her face. He was just inches away from her earring.

Chat’s ring gave its final beep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1"Puissaimant": Combination of two words- 'Puissant' (powerful) and 'aimant' (magnet). PRETTY COOL, HUH?  
> 2"putain": fuck


	12. Luck of the Charm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'll let you off that cliff-hanger now.
> 
> So we make up for Sunday's itty-bitty chapter with a decent-length-chapter today. We'll be finishing the action and getting into feelings again, so it should be good! I like this one at least!

_Was Chat Noir holding my...Adrien’s...lucky charm?_ Ladybug stared into Chat’s eyes, neon green but swimming with such human tears, and saw his lips mouthing her name. He put the charm away. Ladybug narrowed her eyes, trying to figure this out, when she heard another car scrape against the metal of the existing metal staircase. It snapped her back to attention and her eyes back on Puissaimant.

His eyes were crazed with greed and delight, hands reaching out both to lift more cars and to get her Miraculous. What could she do? Ladybug wriggled again, her head hitting the bottom of the glass lamp post. “Ow,” Ladybug said quietly, turning her head quickly to look at the lamp bulb. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the bulb, pale yellow with hundreds of tiny black dots moving inside. Even with no lucky charm in hand, Ladybug had a stroke of luck and understanding.

Ladybug glanced towards Chat, hoping to show him she had a plan. But Chat was gone. Puissaimant spoke first, drawing her eyes back on him. “I’ve got you now, Ladybug. I’ll leave your kitty-cat for later after we take the tower!” Marinette stared wide-eyed at Puissaimant and saw Hawk Moth’s mind-control mask cover his face. The villain froze. Just long enough for Ladybug to smash her head as hard as she could against the glass of the lamp bulb.

Pain seared through her body and her head immediately felt warm and sticky. She groaned out in pain, cursing through her teeth...but it had worked! The family of beetles that had been living in the bulb flew out in a panic, swarming and flying directly into Puissaimant’s face as he came to. They circled Ladybug’s face and she saw they weren’t just beetles….they were _ladybugs._ Puissaimant yelped in surprise and waved his hands around, trying to swat the bugs away from his face. His magnet headpiece sparked to life and the waving hand loosened the lamp post just enough for Ladybug to slip out.

“Thank you, friends!” Ladybug yelled up at the bugs as she fell. She prepared herself and stuck the landing. While Puissaimant was distracted, she ran as fast as she could away from the Place du Charles de Gaulle, dodging smashed cars and to a nearby alley off of the Champs Elysée to hide. Her head was pounding in pain, blood rushing to clot the injury. One hand touched the blood in her hair while the other pulled out her yo-yo. She tried to call Chat, but the line was dead. He was out of his transformation.

Ladybug took a deep breath. _It’s okay, he’s okay. He’s not hurt, he’s just...exposed. I’ll save him before Paris and Hawkmoth find out who he is...it’s okay._ She left a message. “Chat! I don’t know if you have any food to recharge your kwami or if it’s even possible, but I need you back here! Please call as soon as you can so I know if I have help or if I have to be the one saving your tail. Oh. I guess you don’t have a tail right now? But you would if you were listening to this, so...Oh là là, laisse tomber! [1] Just call me back!”

Ladybug looked around the corner back at the villain, abandoned in the street. Puissaimant was clearly furious, but Ladybug got the feeling that Hawk Moth was even angrier. He’d let her slip out of his hands. And indeed, she could see the mask reappear from a distance and then Puissaimant turned his attention not to the bugs, but to the Arc de Triomphe. _Chat Noir!_

“I don’t know where you flew off to, Ladybug,” he yelled out, “But a cat in the hand’s worth two bugs in the bush!” From his perch on the metal car stairs, he lifted his hands. Puissaimant’s face strained with effort.

Under her breath, Ladybug whispered, “What are you lifting?”. She heard the answer before she saw it. A monstrous groan sounded directly above her head. Ladybug looked up and saw that the _entire roof_ of the building next to her was slowly peeling off its stone walls. She swallowed, unsure of what to do except watch in abject terror. He pulled it up until the floated in the sky, the villain sweating with effort. It twirled in the air, very slow at first, then faster and faster, until it looked a bit like a UFO. Then, he flicked his wrist and the flying roof rocketed directly into the Arc de Triomphe and the stone arch caved in with a glorious, horrifying puff of dust and rock. The makeshift walls of cars all tumbled onto the pile, steel and stone mixing into a deadly tomb.

 _“CHAT!”_ Ladybug screamed at the top of her lungs. There was no way even a magic suit could protect a disaster like that. Tears stung her eyes. How could this have gone so wrong?! Where had her luck gone?! A memory of that lucky charm flashed- had she lost more than just Chat Noir?! Whatever his connection with Adrien was...had Marinette lost  _that_ , to? Beyond just her very best friend? _“CHAT, NO!”_

“I actually go by ‘Chat Noir’, not ‘Chat No’. But you were close, My Lady!”

Ladybug’s heart stopped. She spun around and saw her partner, cheeky grin and all, just a meter away. Her voice inflection changed completely as she cried out, “Chat Noir!” and ran to him. Chat opened his arms, but he still staggered backwards and let out a small ‘ooph’ at the impact of her hug.

“You’re okay! You stupid, stupid cat. You’re okay!!”

“You know what they say- the cat comes back. You and I have that animal magnetism!”

She sniffed loudly and giggled, squeezing tighter. “I don’t know how you did it, but I’m so glad you did. You’re okay!” Ladybug nuzzled herself closer to Chat until she could hear the rumbling vibrations of his purr in his chest. She normally hated to hear his purring during battle; it felt like more distracting flirting. But she was growing more attached to Chat Noir and having just seen him evade death, she felt like purring herself. And resting in his arms for as long as possible.

Chat inhaled, then his hug went more rigid. “Ladybug, you’re bleeding!”

“Oh, I’m fine. The head bleeds a lot. I don’t feel it at all,” Ladybug said, still resting her head against his chest. However, he had stopped purring, so she pulled away. She still rested her hands in his.

"My lady, you're  _really bleeding_ ," he repeated, touching a glove to her sticky, warm hair, and looking at it with horror.

Ladybug quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes to reply. "I hit my head on some glass escaping from Puissaimant. It's fine; I'll heal. It clots fast. I told you, the head bleeds a lot!"

Chat looked serious as he waved his bloodied glove in front of Ladybug's face. "This is  _not_ a good shade of red for you, Buginette."

Ladybug grabbed his waving hand and pulled it down, yanking Chat closer to her stern face. "I'm  _fine_ , Chat Noir. And forty seconds ago, I thought you were dead!" She waved her free hand toward the resting place of the Arc de Triomphe where dust was still billowing into morbid clouds. "I just saw my best friend rise from the dead. You're freaking out over...what's basically a paper cut. Please respect the balance of the gravity of this situation!"

"I don't like it when you get hurt," Chat muttered, wiping her hair again in an attempt to wipe away the blood. 

Catching his hand yet again, Ladybug spoke softly, "And I don't like it when you nearly die in front of me. But that doesn't seem to stop us from doing this to each other, does it?"

"At least I actually  _did_ escape the akuma this time," Chat bragged with a wink. "I stayed out of his claws." And with that pun, he seemed ready to move on from fussing over Ladybug's wound. His hand, at least, stayed comfortably in her grasp. “Do you want to know how I did it?”

“Do we have time?” Ladybug asked, looking over her shoulder and back to Puissaimant. The akumatized villain was sifting through the rubble he’s created, moving one car at a time. He was looking for Chat still. Or rather…

“Oh yeah, he can look all he wants, but he won’t find my dead body under there,” Chat said chipperly. “Besides, he has to move the rock rubble by hand. But if he and Hawkmoth think they’ve got a trapped cat, no magnetic pull in the world is getting him away from that trash heap.”

That was a good point! Ladybug smiled in satisfaction. Obviously it was terrible that the Arc de Triomphe was now more or less dust, but they had bought themselves significant time. She looked back into the shining, very much alive eyes of Chat Noir and nodded. “Alright, so how did you do it?”

Chat let go of Lady’s hand and leapt into an action pose, miming his entire story. “First, right before I detransformed, I leapt from my window to the ground. Landed on all fours perfectly, of course, don’t you worry. I knew I had to save you and get out soon, but I also knew I would detransform soon. See, I had forgotten something dumb and obvious about the Arch- you can go inside! _Of course_ you can go inside, I had just been so panicked, I forgot!

“I transformed first. My civilian self, who, may I remind you, is also very handsome and charming-”

“I’m sure he is,” Ladybug said with a roll of her eyes.

“-entered the interior. It was packed with people! Tourists and locals who had all gone to safety.”

Ladybug’s eyes went wide and her blood went cold. She turned back around at the pile of rubble. Had those people now joined France’s tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe?

Chat Noir reached out and touched her shoulder, pulling her attention back in. “Ladybug, Ladybug, don’t get all riled up, now! I knew that thing was hitting the Arch and obviously so did all the people. So I told them the Arch was under attack and to go underground, that Chat Noir and Ladybug told me to tell them that. Luckily, you just need five or six people to believe you and they all stampede down the stairs to the underground pass. On our way down, I was able to convince some kind people to give me some of their picnic lunch they had with them and fed it to Plagg while we herded civilians.

“There were even MORE people down in the underground pass.....I waited until I was sure every one of them was downstairs, then went back up to ‘check’ one more time. I came back as Chat Noir, ran through the people hiding in the underground and convinced them it would be okay because you and I were saving the day. Came back up through the Champs Elysee exit, convinced them to stay put, and saw the most beautiful girl hiding in an alley.” He grinned at her. “And here we are!”

“Thank you for taking care of our people,” Ladybug said softly. That was why she did this. And as many times as he cracked jokes and claimed it was all for the chance to be with her, Ladybug knew protecting the people was Chat’s main drive, too.

“It’s always my purr-leasure,” Chat answered with a wink.

“Now, as nice as it is to have Magnet Man distracted, we should finish this up.” Ladybug called for a lucky charm and an airhorn fell from the sky, covered in red with black dots.

“Well, this blows,” Chat said, looking the air horn over with her. “Can I?”

“What, squeeze it?!” Ladybug asked, horrified he would even ask.

“Thanks for the permission!” Chat said in delight. He squeezed the air horn and a terrible, loud noise honked from their hiding place.

Ladybug nearly dropped the new lucky charm, her whole body twitching at the noise. She peeked around the corner and saw something interesting. Right at the moment of the horn, Puissaimant had lost his focus and dropped the car that was hovering nearby. Interesting….and useful….but not enough to fight back alone. The villain turned to look, but in a fight soundtrack also filled with sirens, one loud horn wasn’t enough to drive him away from his hunt for Chat Noir’s body and miraculous.

“I’m glad it _works_ ,” she hissed, “but I’m not sure _how_ it’s going to work.” Ladybug looked around, trying to get an idea. Her Ladybug-vision settled on Chat, the many cars scattered around Puissaimant...and Puissaimant’s headpiece. And in just as fast of a moment, her memory sorted through and picked out one particular lesson from Madame Mendeliev’s physics class. “ _Of course!_ ” Ladybug cheered. “Chat, do you know how to break a magnet?”

“You can’t; if you break it in half, you just end up with two smaller magnets. The poles shift around,” Chat said automatically. He shrugged. “We can’t break it. That isn’t helpful, is it?”

Ladybug was jealous for a moment. Her brain had snapped to it because of the miraculous suit and her magically enhanced luck. Chat just _knew_ this stuff. “Yes, you can’t break it in half...but you can make it stop working. Through-”

“Oh! Extreme heat or hammering- you have to scatter the poles!”

“Right!” Ladybug agreed.

Chat took the air horn, promising, “I’m not going to blow it,” then turned it over in his hand. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this thing gets up to 600 degrees.” He handed it back to her. “A fire torch might have been a better charm, My Lady. Better luck next time?”

“But you didn’t just say heat...hammering works too,” she said. Ladybug’s earrings beeped their first warning. No more exposition time. Ladybug leaned in to Chat and explained the plan. Within seconds, they were bolting out towards traffic, Chat silently and quickly slinking among the cars to the other side of the rubble heap.

Finding her position behind a car just close enough to Puissaimant, Ladybug lay in wait. He lifted a car up and as it slowly hovered, looked around to see if a body had been exposed. Ladybug stood up and shouted, “Hey, short stuff!”

Puissaimant turned around and gritted his teeth, growling at Ladybug. “You!” he shouted. He lifted the car higher above his head, ready to toss it at Ladybug. Then they all heard deafening honk. Losing his concentration and losing the blue electricity on his headpiece, the car fell from its position in the sky, directly onto the villain. It gave a resounding _clang_ as the metal hit the metal, falling off of the magnet and onto the ground. “What the hell?!” he roared, looking around. “Ladybug, I’ll get you!”

Ladybug leapt to the side, unsure of whether or not their plan had worked. She swallowed hard when she saw blue electricity crackle on the magnet again...but Puissaimant looked like he was struggling. He lifted the small French car next to Ladybug, but it rocked back in forth in the sky, moving slowly, as if this was as hard to lift as the giant tin roof had been. It _was_ working!

That’s when Chat jumped up from the pile of rubble. “Miaow!” He yelled. “I think you were hunting for me?”

Puissaimant turned in total shock. “I’ll crush _you_ , then!” The car wobbled through the sky from Ladybug towards Chat….and when it was directly above Puissaimant’s head, Chat fired his horn again. The car fell down with another resounding clang, then knocked to the ground. Puissaimant had also been knocked to the ground. He huffed loudly before he stood back up, staring straight at Chat.

Ladybug tossed her yo-yo and it zipped around their target’s knees, bringing him back to the ground. “Don’t you try and hurt him again!” she yelled.

He lit up his magnetic headpiece, still strong enough to throw the yo-yo off of himself. Puissaimant stood back up and marched towards Ladybug. “You don’t know when to give up!” he roared. He strained to lift something- Ladybug turned around long enough to see a car just barely shifting on the ground. He let go and went for a motorbike instead. The bike was flying directly at Ladybug on ground level instead of in the sky this time.

She looked at it with determination and jumped, dodging it just like they’d dodged missiles earlier in the battle. She turned back to him, taunting, “Aw, try again, buddy! You can do it!”

Puissaimant roared with anger, all his attention on Ladybug. He picked up a park bench, starting to pull it towards her. She was watching both the bench and him and saw with delight when a smiling black cat popped up behind him with blonde hair and leather ears flapping. Chat Noir lifted his baton over the unsuspecting villian and brought it down like a hammer on his head. The park bench stopped flying and Ladybug spun around, her yo-yo spinning with her. It tied up Puissaimant, delivering him wrapped up like a magnet-topped sausage to Chat’s feet.

With Puissaimant knocked to the ground, Chat continued to hammer away, glee in his eyes. He seemed to relish every loud clang and every slightly quieter ‘ow!’ from the villian. “Stop it!” Puissaimant yelled.

Chat paused, puckering his lips, then said, “Okay, I will! I think you’ll find we’re quite _magnanimous_ . And what will _you_ do?!”

“First, I’ll take your _stick_ ,” he yelled. He scrunched up his face, but blue hardly sizzled. The magnet was scrambled!

Ladybug’s earrings beeped in another warning. “Nice going, Chat!” she yelled. “Now, finish it off! I think the akuma’s in that headpiece!”

He whirled into a cataclysm and brought a single finger down on the headpiece. It crumpled to dust and sure enough, a single dark purple butterfly fluttered out.

Ladybug released her yo-yo from trapping their villain, who now lay helpless on the ground, and threw it to the butterfly, trapping it immediately. She could feel her entire body calming down as the battle ended. The cleansing ritual also cleansed Ladybug every time. The best part, as always, was tossing her lucky charm into the sky, screaming out, “Miraculous Ladybug!”, and watching the Arc de Triomphe magically grow back into place and the cars all settle back to their original state in the roundabout.

Chat was by her side, looking for a fist bump with a familiar, “Bien Joué!” Then he chuckled. “Too bad you couldn’t clean up the traffic jam.” He winked, then went to help the short, unassuming man formerly known as Puissaimant stand up. Chat had a tender look on his face. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Chat Noir. What’s your name?”

“P...Pierre LeFer. Where am I?”

“Your bad day got a little out of hand and you were akumatized,” Ladybug answered, stepping closer to him. “Do you remember anything before you, uh, blacked out?”

Pierre blushed. He tugged at his ugly brown suit. “I had just been rejected by my crush. He said he wouldn’t go out with me because I wasn’t attractive. I had a big Eiffel Tower date planned and everything,” Pierre sighed.

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other knowingly. “Oh, Pierre,” Ladybug said, gripping his hands. “Looks aren’t everything.”

Chat poked her with his thumb, agreeing, “I don’t even _know_ what My Lady looks like and she’s got me tied around her finger like a yo-yo string.”

Ladybug felt a smile creep on her lips, but pushed it down. “If that man wouldn’t even give you a chance over your physical appearance, that’s not the kind of person you want around you. You want someone who respects you, trusts you, and treasures the little mementos of love you give them, whether it’s a spoken word or a date or a gift.” Ladybug thought of her three boys as she said it. Chat Noir, who trusted her with his life. Luka, whom she had abandoned at the cafe. And Adrien, who had her...well, she _thought_ he had her lucky charm. Did he?!

“Maybe you’re right...but...he’s right, too. I’m _not_ attractive.”

Chat Noir sighed and patted the other man on the back. “Take it from a dude who has spent a lot of time with professional pretty people. Looks ain’t all they’re cracked up to be! The people who like you for your looks and not your actions tend to be bottom of the barrel people. But more importantly, looks are _subjective_. It’s not that you’re not unattractive all around, Pierre! You just aren’t your own type. And apparently, you aren’t Monsieur Rude’s type, either.”

A smile twitched on Pierre’s face as he looked into Chat’s eyes. “You think I could be somebody’s type?”

“I’m paw-sitive, Pierre. You just need to find the right Prince Charming.”

Ladybug’s earring gave one last warning. “Chat, can I borrow you for a second before we both have to go?”

“Of course, My Lady!” He looked quickly at Pierre, now tugging his suit with a little more purpose. “Are you going to be okay, Monsieur LeFer?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you, Chat Noir. Thank you, Ladybug!”

Chat gave his two-finger salute and Ladybug waved goodbye, then yanked Chat to her side. She threw her yo-yo onto the roof that had reappeared and zipped them up to the roof. “I really have to go soon,” Ladybug said hastily, “but I have to ask...Chat, I saw you holding something earlier. It looked like...uh, like a lucky charm, maybe?” She swallowed hard. Ladybug had no idea what she hoped Chat’s response would be.

“Oh, yeah, my lucky charm!” Chat said with a smile. He patted his pocket. Then his smile faltered, as if he was remembering something. “Where- where did you recognize it from?” Ahh, damn. Whatever she wanted Chat to have said, it wasn’t _that_! Ladybug struggled, trying to think of an excuse. Luckily, Chat gave it to her. “From the, uh, Gorizilla battle?”

She snapped her fingers and pointed them at Chat. “YES! That’s where I remember it from! Wasn’t it that boy’s, Adrien’s?”

“Yeah, uh, he leant it to me!” Chat said, nodding furiously. “After we saved him? He was all ‘oh, black cats are such bad luck, you should have this, it’s good luck.’ So I, uh, I borrowed it!” Ladybug’s heart sank just a little. She knew it was silly, but she loved that Adrien held on to her gift and always had it for his luck. Why had he given it to Chat Noir? Since when were they even friends? She sighed, looking away from Chat. “My Lady? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered hastily. “I have to go detransform. Thank you again, Chat Noir. You’re the best partner I could ask for.” She left without another word and swung out of view, her magic running out before she even hit the pavement. Marinette fell to the ground, landing with a well-practiced roll onto some soft grass. “Awww, man,” Marinette said quietly. She looked up at a street sign and pulled Tikki out of her pocket. The tiny kwami rested in her hand. “We’re about twenty minutes by RER from home and all the cookies you can eat. Can you hold on?”

“Yes, Marinette. You did a great job in that battle...let’s just go...home,” Tikki said, totally exhausted. “And don’t forget...to apologize to Luka. You two...have a lot to talk...about.”

“I have a lot to talk about with a lot of people,” Marinette said.

\---

Marinette arrived at her home still before her mother’s curfew. After filling her bag with cookies, she opened the door from the boulangerie into their home. Marinette could hear the television playing softly.

Once the adrenaline of that insane fight wore off (it took a few train stops to do so), Marinette used her alone time to think. The entire ride home she had thought about all the conversations she needed: Adrien, to figure out why Chat Noir has his lucky charm. Alya, to try to sort through her feelings for Luka and Adrien. Luka, after she sorted through said feelings. Luka again, to apologize for leaving the date. She could put off talking to her mother and father for another night.

She had also thought about what Tikki had said: being kind to the three boys. Marinette was confused- she admitted now that she liked Adrien romantically again (still?) and in fact liked him more than Luka. But Luka had done nothing wrong! And then there was Chat, always faithful, always loving, and much more of a potential love interest than ever before. Maybe the kindest thing to do would be to let Luka out of this tangled web.

She climbed the stairs with heavy feet. “Maman? Papa? I’m home,” she said. Marinette found them curled up together on the couch in the dark. Sabine turned the light on and smiled at their daughter.

“How was your date?” Sabine asked.

“It was...um...okay. Can we talk about it tomorrow? I promised I would call Alya first,” she said.

Sabine looked at Tom, then back to Marinette. She chose her words carefully and slowly answered, “Alright, Marinette. Let me know if you need anything. Papa and I need to go to bed, but you can wake me up if you need us. We are glad you’re home safe and that you weren’t anywhere near the danger tonight.”

Marinette gave both her parents a kiss on the cheek before going to her room. “Me too, Maman.”

After climbing to her room, Marinette pulled out her phone. She placed a tired, hungry Tikki on her desk and put a cookie into her open arms. Marinette’s mixed emotions were very strong and all of them flooded in when she saw the three texts from Adrien, one from Alya, and one from Luka waiting for her.

The one from Luka, the newest, said “I hope your dad is okay. Let me know if you need anything. Good night!”

She answered, a little concerned he would question the two hour gap between his and her texts. Well, she could always use nursing her dad as a continued alibi. “Papa’s fine, thanks. I’m so sorry I ditched you guys. Can we talk tomorrow and I can apologize?” She waited a moment or two for a reply and none came in. Maybe Luka was already asleep.

Marinette swapped to the next set of texts. Adrien had sent two pictures of duck confit. One had the duck arranged like a frowny face with a caption, “Duck confit is lonely tonight!” The next had the duck confit wearing a moustache with a caption, “he’s up all night to get ducky”. Marinette giggled. The last one was just text and it said “Dinner is boring without a conversational partner. I hope yours is going better than mine.”

Marinette sent a quick reply. “Thanks for the pictures. Dinner was good, the conversation not as much. I had to leave for a Lemonade thing and it actually was kind of a relief.” She sent two lemon emojis with her text. She much prefered Adrien’s concept of their “Cookies” and “Lemonade” secrets to outright lying.

She opened Alya’s text last. This one didn’t need a reply, it just said “How’s the foursome?” She rolled her eyes and clicked the button to FaceTime Alya.

Two rings in, Alya picked up. “Hey, girl! You’re home late. How was the date?”

“I need to break up with him. Like, tomorrow.”

“That bad?”

“Alya, I lied so I could go home early.”

Alya inhaled sharply. “Yikes, that _is_ bad. What did he do?”

Marinette fell backwards on her bed and propped her phone against a pillow.  “Luka didn’t do anything. And Rose and Juleka were great. I just...Alya, I spent more time on the date thinking about dinner with Adrien than actually enjoying dinner with Luka and my friends.”

“Oh, choupette. Does this mean you’re finally admitting you still like him?”

“I think I like him _again,_  don’t you?”

“Still. Not again.”

“No! I didn’t like him over summer while I was newly dating Luka! I wasn’t all ‘gooble-dooble-wooble’ around Adrien or anything.”

“Duh, because having a boyfriend in the bag gives you confidence. But my little Marinette, I have hours recorded of you talking about Adrien from this summer alone. Our Ladyblog brainstorming sessions that I record? You turned most of them into recaps of your most recent hang out with Adrien. Expect, of course, the days after a date with your boyfriend. Those days you talked for five minutes about Luka, then we actually got _work_ done.”

“What?! I’m sure I didn’t...talk about him that much.”

“Ya did.”

Marinette was quiet for a moment. She stared at Alya. “You never said anything over summer. You didn’t start encouraging me to reconsider dating Luka until rentrée.”

“I was just happy to see you happy,” Alya shrugged. “You really were head over heels for Luka at first. And I love seeing my best friend get hugs and kisses and compliments. You deserve happiness! Plus, when you thought you were over Adrien and could finally be his friend, you were _so_ happy. That’s what started your constant Adrien talk. You were just over the moon you could hang out without it being ‘weird’.” She shook her head, but still smiled. “Luka was really good for you. I didn’t want to ruin that. But now that you think you’re ready to dump his ass…”

“Alya!”

“What? It’s what you’re gonna do! And it’s an overdue conversation, frankly. You two have been sleepwalking through your relationship for weeks. I’m sure you’ll give him plenty of sad song material to write about. He’s gonna thank you later.”

Marinette paused. She thought over what Alya said and thought about how her time had been spent over summer. Maybe she was right...maybe she never stopped liking Adrien. “So you think I should?”

“Dump Luka and go for Adrien? Yes, girl. Give it a good week in between for optics, but get that big fish while you’re still hot property.”

“Alya, wait…”

Alya stopped talking. She changed her expression, listening closely and politely.

“I don’t think I can just ask out Adrien.”

“Why not? You’ve got so much more confidence. And that boy thinks the sun shines out of your butt! He won't stop asking me about you, every damn week like clockwork. Why not just ask him out?”

Why not? There were _so_ many reasons why not. She didn’t want to date and keep her hero lifestyle a secret. She was conflicted over Chat’s feelings. Could she leave her partner out to dry _again_ , feeling like she did? And she wasn’t sure how Adrien felt anyway...not as sure as she had been before today.

“This will sound silly. When I was going home from my date today, I met a friend of his.”

“Nino?”

“No. It was a...a fencing friend. And he had Adrien’s lucky charm.”

Alya leaned forward, eyebrows knit together. “The one you gave him during the video game tournament?”

“That’s the one,” Marinette sighed. “Adrien kept it with him after the tournament. He’s shown me before. He even had it at school last week! And...I don’t know. He must have been mad at me or something to give it away. Or maybe he gave up on me? I don’t know.”

Alya tapped her chin. “I don’t know either. Nino says he always has that thing. It seems weird he would just give it away...and now of all times.” She pointed at the camera. “Especially because you’re doing that report thing on lucky charms!”

“I know,” Marinette said sadly.

“You know I normally love jumping to conclusions. But girl, we don’t have enough evidence to build a case. I’m gonna be real boring here and say you should ask him what’s going on.”

“Ask Adrien?”

“No, ask the President. Of course ask Adrien!”

“Right now?”

“At 11 pm?” Alya chuckled. “He might get a different idea if you call him up tonight, lover girl.”

“I mean, he’s texting me right now,” Marinette admitted. She had seen two texts come in but ignored them in favor of Alya.

Alya, however, was not about to ignore that. She rocked forward in her chair towards the phone, hand slamming the table. “He is? About what??”

“I’m sure it’s just about his dinner. I don’t know! I’ve been talking to you!”

“You can’t do both?”

“I’m talking to you _to figure out what to do with my current boyfriend_ , remember?”

Alya fell back in her chair, saying, “oh yeah, you still have that.” She picked up a nearby stuffed ladybug toy and shook it at Marinette. “We got to get rid of that.” She put the stuffed bug down. Alya took a deep breath and smiled sweetly, sadly, at her best friend. “Real talk though? Luka was great. He was a perfect first boyfriend for you. You got to practice going on dates and kissing and best of all, _talking_ to cute boys. It’s okay to have a practice boyfriend, Marinette. But you’ve outgrown your practice boyfriend. If you would rather text your old crush than the boyfriend you already have, it isn’t fair to keep stringing Luka along. Whether or not Adrien has your lucky charm.”

“You’re right,” she said. Marinette paused to play with her fingertips. “I have to talk to him soon. No more putting this off.”

“If the lucky charm thing is important to you, maybe ask Adrien in person,” Alya said. “Nino tells me he is a terrible texter. Just stops texting for hours at a time in the middle of a conversation. I mean, you do too, we all do, but you actually tell me _why_.”

 _I lie about why_ , Marinette thought, remembering all the times she’s left Alya to save Paris. “If I can get the words out…that’s a good idea.”

“What do you mean, if you can get the words out? You talk just fine to Adrien! I can’t get a word in edgewise nowadays!”

“Well, yeah, but that was before I realized I still like him-like him!”

Alya laughed and shook her head. “ _Marinette_. He’s your friend now, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“And you have been talking to him just fine over summer, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“ _AND_ you have been talking just fine to Luka, right? Your practice Adrien?”

“My practice Adrien?”

“Practice Adrien, practice boyfriend, bonnet blanc, blanc bonnet[2] . It’s all the same. Point is, if you can talk to Luka, you can talk to Adrien. And if you still freeze up, just pretend he’s your friend from the summer still. You got this, girl. You’re only asking about the lucky charm, which is your school project anyway.”

Marinette took a deep breath. “You’re right. I talk to him all the time. We talk about our project all the time. I’ll be fine.” She didn’t say anything else for a moment, chewing on her lip and looking away from Alya on the screen.

Alya laughed. “You wanna know what he texted, don’t you?”

“YesIREALLYdo,” Marinette gushed out.

“Go text him,” she said. “I need to finish editing my post on tonight’s Akuma Attack anyway. There were some awesome dramatic shots.”

“Okay,” Marinette said. “By the way, I’ll let you know before I go talk to Luka tomorrow.”

“Plan on me sleeping over, okay? I know you’re the dumper, but it still totally sucks. I’ll be bringing ice cream and movies. And a life size cut out of Adrien to practice kissing.”

“Alya!!!!”

She crossed her arms and pouted. “You’re not going to use my Nino cut out!”

“Ayla!!!” Marinette said again, this time laughing.

Her best friend giggled back. “You know I’m kidding. Bye, girl! Love ya!”

“Love you too! Call you tomorrow!” Marinette promised.

She hung up. Tikki, who looked recharged, flew back into the line of sight. “She does a good job looking out for you,” she commented.

“Yeah, she does,” Marinette agreed. She clicked back to her phone’s home page and switched to text messages. Luka still hadn’t replied, but Adrien did. He had said, “Oh, I’m glad the lemonade was sweet instead of sour tonight.” Then in a separate text, “Sorry about the bad date. You deserve to go out on great dates only.”

Marinette typed two quick replies to the two separate comments. Her first read, “It’s always a little sweet, even when it’s sour. Lemonade has a really good after taste. But it was definitely a bad sign that I was excited for the sour part.” She typed out the second: “Great dates like with your duck confit?”

By the time Marinette had finished her second text, Adrien’s reply to the first came through. He must be awake, too. “Do you think maybe part of why you were excited for the sour was because of the sweet? I know I feel like that with Cookies, that the good totally outweighs all of the bad.”

Marinette read the text and puckered her lips while she thought. It was pretty astute. Adrien was still typing a message, probably a reply to the second text, so she had time to write back. “It probably had something to do with it yeah. I like lemonade because it's sweet, and so I'm happy to put up with the sour. Especially because I feel like it's my responsibility, even on the bad days. Today was different though. Honestly I just didnt want to stay at dinner...” She included a grimacing and a guilty emoji.

Adrien replied to her second text first. She didn’t have to wait long. Adrien had wrote, "I know what you mean about all that lemonade stuff. I'm glad it was a good excuse on a bad night, since you shouldn't have bad nights ever anyway." A second text followed soon after. "But I don't know about a better date with that duck. You know duck confit is actually super gross if it isn’t fresh? You missed your chance with that guy!” He followed up with a sloppily edited picture of the frowny face duck confit, this time with green scribbles over the duck and ‘Ew’ handwritten across. Marinette laughed out loud. 

Another text followed without a picture. “I think he has a friend, though, who would be happy to escort you out.”

Marinette’s heart thumped. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard. Was he insinuating what she thought? How should she answer that? Could he wait a day or two? Was he going to ask her out??

Then the next text came in. Another picture. This time, it was a photo of a baguette wearing actual Agreste brand sunglasses, a Breton scarf, and had a toothpick sticking out between the two accessories. Marinette recognized Adrien’s bedroom behind the baguette. A caption underneath said, “Voilà Jacques! He’s upper-crust, so you know he makes enough dough that your dates won’t be crumby.”

“Ohh my god,” Marinette groaned. All that panic and heart palpitations for nothing!

Tikki shook her head. “What is with these boys and their puns?”

Another text came in. “The bakers’ daughter and the baguette. Tale as old as time!”

Marinette grinned. “Tikki, hand me a cookie!”

Tikki fluttered in the air. “Oh, no! You’re going to encourage this? And with _my_ cookies?”

Marinette had already started pinning together tiny scraps of fabric. She grinned at her kwami. “Yes. I have had enough of a hard time today with the Akuma and all these boys… I think we deserve to play dress up.”

“Oh...fine,” she relented. Tikki carried a cookie to Marinette, holding it up as her best friend pinned fabric to the lower half and stuck on old fake eyelashes. “You should absolutely get to play and have some relaxation time.” Tikki was smiling as Marinette prepared her tiny mannequin. And so was Marinette.

Marinette pulled out a Paris book from her shelf and opened it to a full spread of the Eiffel Tower, laying the cookie down in front. Pinned together with fabric scraps, the cookie appeared to be wearing a sleeveless red dress with white polka dots. Above the dress, the cookie had false eyelashes laid out and above that, enough fabric to make a tiny beret. Marinette snapped a picture and sent it with a quick message, “I agree that Jacques is charming, but I could never date him! Not when my friend Marie has been crushing on him for years. It would crumble her heart.” Marinette sat back with a satisfied smile.

A text came in soon, this one just words. It said, “(Holy heavens, Marinette! Did you make that just now?? I thought my my bread dude was pretty great and you go off making cookie couture!)” A second came immediately, “(You’re amazing!)” coupled with many “wow” emojis.

Marinette smiled, blushing slightly. She wrapped a blanket around her and got comfortable. As expected, Adrien finally fired back with a picture of his baguette, this time next to a bunch of flowers, announcing that _Jacques_ was completely oblivious that his sweet friend _Marie_ ever liked him as more than a “coPAIN” [3] .

Again, with the puns. Clearly, Marinette was destined to live a life amongst puns. But it didn’t stop her from giggling like a maniac and crafting a reply.

Marinette stayed up roleplaying with her cookie (and later on a croissant, when the pins broke poor Marie in half) until she was so tired, she fell asleep at her desk, phone in one hand and fabric scissors in the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "laisse tomber": literally, "let it fall", used for "never mind" (like 'forget it')  
> 2 "bonnet blanc, blanc bonnet": Literally, 'white bonnet, white bonnet'. Used as we us "Tomayto-tomahto". It means "two different ways to say the same thing. (Most French adjectives go after the subject, including colors (you know this one! Chat Noir: black cat!), but French has some exceptions and you're typically understood even when mixing them up.)  
> 3"coPAIN": 'Copain' means 'friend', specifically male friend (that you aren't that close to), and 'pain' means 'bread'.


	13. Totally not a romantic study date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I can see the finish line. 13/16. We are really coming to a head in this story.
> 
> Sorry for not posting yesterday; life caught up with me, I got distracted and wrote an Alyanette one-shot, and then I had a friend to take care of. Please, take care of each other. Respond to friends when they need help, reach out to friends when you need it. Listen to your emotions and stay safe, friends.
> 
> NOW, I hope you like this chapter! I think we'll see some things we've all been very, very impatient to see.

Adrien had a very busy weekend. In between homework, modelling, fencing, Chinese, defeating Puissaimant, saving Parisians three more times as Chat Noir, and practicing his piano, he had almost no time for friends. In fact, with the exception of texting Chloé, Nino, and Marinette, Sunday evening was the first time all weekend he’d seen any of his friends.

Well, besides Ladybug. He knew how lucky he was to see Ladybug over the weekend.

Nino had invited Adrien over to listen to a new remix and Adrien had gotten permission after complaining about his busy week. The song was cool- Nino had added his own beats under an XY song and mixed in some samples from Maître GIMS. “I decided to challenge myself,” he said, leaning back. “I wanted to make an XY song that was actually _cool_.”

“Yeah, this is awesome!” Adrien said enthusiastically. When the song finished, he asked with interest about Nino’s process for that one. Nino showed where he’d sampled all the music, even something from Clara Nightingale that Adrien wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out, since it fit so well and Nino had re-orchestrated it. “And you did this all in one weekend?”

Nino shrugged. “Mostly. I had the songs picked out over the week. Alya was busy at Marinette’s house almost all of Saturday and we had planned to hang out, so I ended up with a whole lot of free time.”

Adrien’s heart skipped a beat at Marinette’s name. “Why was she there? I mean why did she change plans?”

“Dude, don’t you like, text Marinette all the time?”

Adrien blinked. “So?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

Now Adrien was worried. Was Marinette okay? Were her parents okay?? Why did she need Alya?!? “Didn’t tell me what?”

“She and Luka broke up Saturday morning.”

“They _did?!_ ” Adrien mentally reviewed what he knew about Marinette’s timeline. She went on a bad date, had to leave for a Lemonade thing (whatever that was), texted him adorable pictures of her amazing cookie outfits, and then….then she didn’t text him again until late Saturday afternoon. He had texted her, just something innocent wishing her a good morning, but no reply. And when she did finally text, it was a scattering of random letters with a quick explanation that Alya had grabbed her phone with a picture of Alya sticking out her tongue.

She didn’t text him much after that, although he had just assumed it was because her friend was there. “I knew it wasn’t going great, but...she didn’t tell me they broke up,” Adrien confessed. Why didn’t she want him to know? Didn’t friends tell each other stuff like that? He was new to the female friend thing, but...“Do you know if she’s okay?”

“Oh yeah, she’s fine now,” Nino said. “I think it was hard on her.”

“Did he break her heart?” Adrien asked, a little coldly.

“No, man! She’s the one who dumped _him_ ,” Nino said. “I heard he was okay with it. Apparently he saw it coming or something. I think we all did. But you know Marinette. She never would want to hurt anyone, so that messed her up for a little bit.”

That was true. Adrien nodded as he thought about Marinette upset, maybe crying, over nothing but hurting Luka’s feelings. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?”

Nino smirked at his best friend. “Yeah, she’s amazing. And she’s _single_ now, too.”

“I know, right?” Adrien said, shaking his head. “It’s crazy Marinette would ever be single. She’s so pretty and funny and talented. She stands up for everybody and defends everyone. She’s like the coolest girl in our class.” Nino was full on sniggering as Adrien gushed about his friend. “What? Nino, what??”

“Do you even hear yourself, man? You just gotta go for it!”

“Go for what?”

“Go for _Marinette_ . You’re _in love_ with her.”

Adrien’s eyes bulged. “With Marinette? No, I’m not! You know I’m in love with Ladybug. I can’t be in love with Marinette.”

Nino grabbed Adrien’s forearms. “Yes, you can be. And I know you can be because _you are._ Dude, you have got to stop using your crush on Ladybug to stop you from living your best life. Ladybug ain’t never happening. But Mari…? Can you imagine how happy you would be with Marinette?”

He looked down, imagining, like Nino said. It was easy to imagine. Just like now, they would text, hang out at school, he would spend dinners with her and her family, she would be invited to his...but everything would be elevated. Better. Less nights alone! He would never have to feel the tightness in his chest when she said she had a date! He could tell the world (and his crazed fans) Adrien Agreste was taken….by promising future designer and all around amazing person Marinette Dupain-Cheng. When she inevitably would stand up for someone even more shy and more scared than her, he could swoop her aside and show her just how amazing it was with all the attention Marinette deserved. He could spend an entire night staring into her sky blue eyes. He could hug her, she would hug him...they could _kiss_. And Adrien was very happy to start imagining what that would be like.

“Yo, dude,” Nino said loud enough to break through the day dream. He threw a pillow at Adrien. “I think we’re done imaging. We can all _see_ how happy you’d be with Marinette.”

“Huh?” Adrien caught the pillow and looked down at his lap. “Oh, wow, sorry, man!” He blushed furiously and pressed the pillow down over his lap. And yes, he loved Ladybug, but it was painfully obvious now, and physically so...Ladybug was no longer the only girl he wanted. "Okay, So maybe I like her a little bit,” he admitted.

“FINALLY!!!” Nino cheered. He spun in his chair to his computer and pressed a button. Loud, triumphant and electronic trumpets sounded from the speakers. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that for a year and a half!”

“A year and a half? I haven’t liked her for a year and a half,” Adrien complained.

“Well, naw, maybe not. But I _have_ been waiting that long. Remember my zoo date with Marinette?”

“How could any of us forget?” Adrien laughed.

“That’s when I started paying attention. For you, man. Realized how good you two would be.” He leaned back in his chair with a smirk. This was all new information to Adrien, and Nino sat on his chair like a throne. “But you’re stubborn and oblivious, and apparently blind, so nothing happened until you let jealousy get in the way.”

“You mean until we became good friends,” Adrien denied, wagging his finger. He let it fall. “And...maybe a _little_ jealousy.”

Nino laughed. “Dude, I can’t wait to tell Alya the good news. That you finally came around.”

Panic flooded through Adrien. “You can’t tell her! She’ll tell Marinette! And she’ll...she’ll think I’m trying to just jump in on the rebound!”

“Marinette’s not going to think that,” Nino scoffed. “And Alya won’t tell her anyway. I’ll just tell her that you’re gonna fess up yourself.”

Adrien chewed on his lip. Fess up? Tell Marinette? And what would he tell _Ladybug_??

“You _are_ going to fess up yourself, aren’t you?”

“Dude, give me a minute to process! Five minutes ago I had no idea I even liked her and now you’re like...planning my wedding!”

“I’m sure Marinette and Alya are already on that,” Nino said with a wave of his hand. “Obviously, you’ll be my best man, I’ll be yours, and we both get to sleep with the maid of honor at each other’s weddings!”

“Nino!!!”

Nino laughed. He leaned over and rubbed Adrien’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s cool, man. It’s probably best to let her have a few days anyway. Let her sort out her post-breakup thoughts and all. Let you sort out yours.”

That would be nice. A few days. He could figure this out.

“Oh, and about the Ladybug crush problem?” Adrien looked up quickly, eager for help. Nino turned to his computer and went through his (many) emails with Alya, clearly looking for something specific. The email subject wasn’t informative, simply reading, “LOL MDR REGARDE ÇA”. [1] He opened the email and grinned wildly as the page loaded. “Just buy this for Marinette and it’s killing two birds with one stone.”

It loaded with pictures of Ladybug and Chat Noir masks first, and obediently, Adrien started to imagine Marinette dressed with his Lady’s mask...then their “costumes” loaded. Lingerie versions of their costumes.

Adrien forced the pillow tighter over his lap, his face almost as red as the tiny bodysuit on the screen. “ _NINO!”_

Nino fell out of his chair laughing as Adrien attacked his best friend with pillows.

———

Adrien was home just in time for dinner. His father disappointed him, again, by not joining. This time, he didn’t text Marinette over his dinner. Adrien was still reeling from realizing he liked her like that. He wanted to text her, god knows his fingers had ghosted over her name and he’d typed out drafts and erased them all day. But Adrien’s mind had been a cacophony of thoughts and he was in no state to address Marinette. _Marinette._ Even if _thinking_ the name sounded like a prayer now.

He climbed up the stairs and shut his door. Plagg flew out of Adrien’s jacket immediately. “Do you think you could convince Nathalie to just give your dad’s dinner plate to me?”

“He eats, Plagg. Just in his atelier[2] and not with us.”

“But do we really know that?” Plagg asked with a cheeky grin. “Has anyone ever _seen_ him eat?”

Adrien walked over to his window and looked out at the city lights. “What I really want to know is how on Earth there have ever been any Chat Noirs who _weren’t_ rich. You know how much cheese and food I go through for you, Plagg?”

As if it answered the question, Plagg offered, “I’ve lived off mozzarella, too. Even Emmental!”

Adrien chuckled. He stared out the window, still lost in thoughts of Marinette. Maybe he could patrol Paris tonight? Get some fresh air. Focus on other people instead of himself. That sounded like a great idea.

“I think I’m going to go out tonight,” Adrien said, walking over to his dresser.

“What? But it’s Sunday night! I was going to finally beat you in Extreme Racer 3!” Plagg waved around a video game controller. He pouted. “I even looked for a bus DLC. I didn’t find any...but I looked, so I should get credit, so Chat Noir should stay safe and inside tonight.”

Adrien laughed. He opened a drawer in his dresser and felt around for something in the back. “That is really kind of you, Plagg. I just need some fresh air.” He turned to Plagg, looking apologetic. “I have a lot to think about, you know?”

“You’re sixteen, Adrien. What could you possibly have to think about? Puberty??”

“You were with me at Nino’s house! I just realized I like Marinette, and-”

“You _just_ realized that?” Plagg asked, squinting at Adrien as he held the controller.

“Yeah…?”

“How does Paris survive with you as Chat Noir?”

“Oh, shut up, Plagg,” Adrien snarled. “I didn’t realize it because I love Ladybug so much. I didn’t even know I could like two girls at once-”

“ _Two_ girls at once?”

“Yeah, Marinette and Ladybug. Try to keep up.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Plagg scoffed.

“Anyway, I didn’t even know I could like two girls at once. And now I don’t really know what to do. I don’t want to hurt either of them, and I don’t want to date if my heart isn’t in it. Marinette can’t know about my life as Chat Noir, and Ladybug and I could never go on public dates and I _so_ badly would want to, so I just...I’m not even sure what the best option is. Or if I should do anything. It’s not like either of them have said that they actually like me.” Adrien sighed. He looked at the floor, then back at Plagg, whose eye was twitching. “I want some fresh air to think about it, you know?” He pulled out a lump wrapped in a black shirt. “Maybe we can play when we get back.”

“You’re skipping out on Extreme Racer 3 Night to ponder the mysteries of having two crushes at the same time? You’re leaving me, your _best friend_ , because you can’t decide between Marinette and Ladybug?”

“I’m not leaving you, you’re coming with.”

“That’s even worse,” Plagg grumbled, dropping the controller on the couch. Adrien chuckled as he took the black shirt off of the lump in his arms, revealing his Ladybug mask handbag.

“Why do you still have that thing anyway?” Plagg asked.

“To keep stuff in,” Adrien said with a smile as he unzipped it.

“Because you can’t keep things in a more usable bag? You can’t even take that in public.”

Adrien turned to look at his kwami, frowning. “Sure I could! I could use a purse if I want to; any boy could use a purse! And I’m a model, so it’s literally my job to make a fashion statement.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Plagg said. “I don’t care about your fashion, I lived through the 80’s.”

“I think 1980’s had some fun fashion.”

“I meant the 1480’s. And besides, you can’t wear it because it’s Chat’s. Chat Noir doesn’t wear a purse and the whole internet saw that Chat has it, so Adrien can’t either. So why keep it?”

Adrien really had only pulled out his Ladybug bag to get his iPod out of it. It was where he stored any small gifts Chat Noir received and his tools to help make a convincing get away. But with Plagg discussing it, he held Marinette’s creation in his hand and looked at it closer. “I like it. Marinette made it for me.” He smiled wide, thinking how his crush (his crush! How weird!!) has made him such a nice gift in the form that she hardly knew. Maybe she would sew something for Adrien one day, too.

He swept a hand across the material, so familiar to the touch and so much like Ladybug’s real mask. He imagined Ladybug while thinking of Marinette. “And it’s like having Ladybug here, too.”

Plagg hovered closer to Adrien and the mask. “So… the mask represents Ladybug, but Marinette’s the girl who made it for Chat Noir, right?”

“Right.”

Plagg inhaled and in an obscenely loud tone, said, “HMMMM. So could you say that….Marinette is the girl behind the mask?”

Adrien held the mask bag tight in his hand and turned to Plagg. He grinned. “I guess you could say that!”

“Marinette...is the girl...behind the mask,” Plagg repeated.

“Yeah, she is. She’s the one who made it.”

“Marinette is the girl... _behind_...the mask!!” Plagg repeated again.

Adrien blinked at him. Was Plagg glitching? Could he glitch? “Yeah, I heard you. ‘Marinette is the girl behind the mask’, okay, cool.”

Plagg grabbed Adrien’s face and repeated a fourth time, “ _MARINETTE_ is the girl behind the _MASK!_ ”

Adrien plucked Plagg off with two fingers, setting him on the top of the dresser. “Dude, I heard you!” He laughed. “I get it, she made the mask.”

Plagg inhaled deeply, running his tiny hands over his whiskers. “Let’s try this again. Marinette made the mask...the _Ladybug_ mask...right?”

“Yeah, she did. It’s super cool.”

“And she gave it to Chat Noir, right?”

“Yeah...which is why I have it,” Adrien agreed. He narrowed his eyes, trying to follow where Plagg was going.

“But _Marinette_ doesn’t know Chat Noir that well...does she?”

“She’s only met me as Chat Noir a few times, I guess. What’s wrong with that?”

“Who does know Chat Noir well enough to get him gifts?”

Adrien paused and looked around, trying to figure out the puzzle. Better than Marinette? “Umm...you?”

“Not me!” Plagg shouted. He quickly calmed down. “Who _else_?”

“Euh….Ladybug?”

“Right!” Plagg hovered an inch off the dresser, excited now. “So then...why would _Marinette_ give _Chat Noir_ a bag with _Ladybug’s_ mask on it?”

Adrien bit his lip. What was Plagg getting at? How was this supposed to help him with the crush situation? “Um...because...oh!” He snapped his fingers. Plagg’s ears perked up, listening to see what Adrien had figured out. “Because...maybe...maybe _Marinette_ …”

“Yes??”

“Maybe _Marinette_ likes Chat Noir?”

Plagg fell face forward onto the dresser. He lifted himself into the air like that, face down, grumbling almost incoherently. “I don’t know _how_ I’m supposed to deal with you, and Tikki’s stupid rules, and this entire pile of…”

“Plagg, where are you going?!” Adrien asked as his kwami hovered face-down towards the exit of his room.

“I’m getting some camembert! You’re lucky that wine doesn’t affect me because you, sir, could drive a kwami to drink!”

\---

 

On one of the last truly warm October afternoons, Adrien sat on his picnic blanket in the Trocadéro gardens. He looked at the sight around him. His blanket had a basket full of treats and his laptop. The trees around him had changed their colors and framed the blue sky in a sunset of leaves leading the eye up to the Eiffel tower. Mid October wasn’t as busy of a tourist season here, but it was still nowhere near empty- couples, families, and friends were scattered around on blankets just like his.

He had realized he liked Marinette four days earlier. It had been incredibly awkward to see her in school the next day, but she looked somewhat out of sorts around him anyway. By Tuesday and Wednesday, Adrien had the guts to talk to her like they always had. He found it hard to keep his feelings to himself that day but knew Marinette would need more time. He had more than once been yelled at by teachers to turn around after staring at her in their shared classes, which amused Alya and Nino far too much. And here he was, on a Thursday afternoon, still bubbling with excitement at just the thought of her.

As Adrien looked to the west, he saw a shape walking towards him. He had to squint and still couldn’t quite confirm who it was. He put a hand up over the sun and smiled wide as Marinette came into view. She saw his smile and smiled right back.

As she approached, she handed him a cold can of soda. “I got you a Coke. I hope that’s okay!” She sat back down next to him, a wide smile on her face.

“Absolutely! I love Coke,” Adrien said, opening his can. She opened her Sprite and they each took a drink. The day before, he had asked if she would like to get together to write more of their presentation. Marinette had agreed, and she had even seemed excited when he suggested the Trocadéro gardens. He had picked the romantic spot on purpose. Even if, technically, he was still too far out to make a move. There was nothing wrong with planting seeds, right? And maybe pretending, at least to himself, that this could be a date?

“It’s nice to be here without some Akuma Attack,” Adrien said as conversationally as possible.

“Yeah, agreed. Even if it is just over homework,” Marinette said. She gestured to their books and laptop and gave a disgusted face.

“Which, I would confess, we are doing _very well_ with,” Adrien commented. He woke up his computer and scrolled to the bottom of their essay. “Look at that! 5 pages, out of 5 required, with the bibliography finished and most of the presentation outlined.” They were grossly ahead of schedule, to be honest. The presentation wasn’t due for a full week and he knew most groups, including Nino and Mylène, were just finishing the research portion. But he wasn’t going to tell Marinette they should meet outside of class _less_ often.

“You’re right,” she confessed, “we are doing great.”

Adrien grinned over at his pretty accomplice. “I’d say we make great partners after all.”

He saw how Marinette ducked her head to smile. “Yeah. We are.” She looked back up at him with the same smile. “So should we work on revisions?”

“Yeah, I actually had a question about one of your lines…” the two dug into their essay, poring over the words they’d written together and the clauses they connected. After awhile, they had started to run out of corrections and were instead tweaking the conclusion. They both sat back, repeating the words “lucky charms are...lucky charms can…” and trying out phrases to concisely convey what they could do. It seemed like both of them had reached an impasse when Marinette sat up.

“Speaking of lucky charms,” she started. She cleared her throat, looked at the Eiffel tower, bit her lip, then looked at Adrien. It was an adorable nervous tic. “Do you...uh...do you still have yours?”

“Of course!” Adrien replied. Was that why she was nervous? He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lucky charm. “I’ve had to retie it a few times because I have it with me every day and it gets some wear and tear,” he admitted. Adrien held it out in his hand for Marinette to see.

She picked it up, looking at it in her hand as if she wasn’t the one to give it to him in the first place. “You do have it. Okay. And you never...I mean, you said every day. You have it with you every day?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said softly. “Uh, is that weird?”

“No!” Marinette quickly answered, squeezing her fist around the lucky charm defensively. “No, it’s not weird! I think it’s cute! I mean, oh gosh-” _cute? She thinks it’s cute?!_ “I didn’t mean- I think it’s...I do that too!” She forced the pink and green bracelet back in Adrien’s hand, pulling her own string of beads out of her purse. “See, I have yours, too. Every day.” Marinette cleared her throat. “I didn’t think it was weird, I just….um...have you ever lent yours to someone else?”

Her big blue eyes looked at him imploringly. Adrien was so fascinated, so entranced by those eyes, he didn’t even pause to think why she could possibly be asking these questions. “No. I don’t let it out of my sight. Uh...anymore.”

Marinette blinked and backed up. “Anymore?”

“Remember that time when my bodyguard got akumatized?”

“Yeah, I do,” she agreed. Marinette didn’t blush at the mention this time, instead looking at Adrien very intently. It was odd.

“He had it. It was his akumatized object and everything. So, I didn’t have it then.”

Marinette bit her lip again as she looked at Adrien. She shifted in her seat. Adrien wanted to grab her hand so badly. “What about after that? You...kept it?”

“Marinette, what are you really asking?”

“Oh!” she squeaked. She started to laugh nervously, playing with the edges of his picnic blanket. “I, um, just…” she picked up a notebook excitedly, pulling it in front of her face. “It’s project research!” Unfortunately, as she picked up the notebook, it knocked over her Sprite, spilling it all over Marinette’s pink jeans and the blanket. She and Adrien stood up quickly, Marinette moaning, “ohhh, no….this is so embarrassing!”

“Don’t worry about it, Mari,” Adrien said, kneeling back down to get napkins. He and Marinette got to work soaking up as much Sprite as they could. “It wasn’t anywhere near the computer, so we’re fine.” He looked at her legs, and said, “but that can’t be comfortable,”

“I’ll be fine,” she muttered. “It’s not the first time I’ve spilled. I’m sorry I’m so clumsy, I’m so-”

“Hey,” Adrien cut her off, dropping a napkin to instead grab her hand. Marinette’s eyes went to his. Adrien had to remind his heart to beat before he could speak. “It’s cool, Marinette. I don’t mind. Being clumsy isn’t a problem, okay? As long as you have someone to help you clean up the messes.” He let go and grabbed another napkin, sopping up more of the blanket. “Hmm, maybe we should just roll this up. Get you indoors before it gets cold.” Adrien sighed in disappointment. He _really_ wanted to watch sunset with her. Hold her hand as the tower lit up and sparkled into the night.

“We could go to my place and I could change,” Marinette suggested, disappointment heavy in her voice. “It’s not as romantic as the-” she froze. So did he. Adrien’s eyes snapped to Marinette’s and he started to blush. “As the-... as the-... as the-...”

Adrien’s face was hot and he desperately wanted to cover it up. But he couldn’t bear to see Marinette look so awkward and nervous. So he jumped in for her, speaking loudly, “Let’s come back here another time, how about?! Another time!”

“Okay!” Marinette said. It looked like her entire body was exhaling in relief that she didn’t have to finish her thought and that he wasn’t questioning her. Frankly, Adrien was the one relieved. Marinette had admitted this was a romantic place. In fact, she didn’t want to leave _because_ it was romantic!

“I bet if we get there in time, we can work on your balcony and maybe even see the sunset from there. Your balcony has the _best_ sunsets,” Adrien gushed. “That would be-”

“You haven’t been on my balcony!” Marinette said immediately.

“What? Yes I-” Adrien froze. Oh, _merdre_. Adrien had been to her room a lot of times, but not once while they hung out did they go up to her balcony. Frankly, he wasn’t even sure how she got up there. Climbed from her bed? A ladder? He’d only ever visited by jumping onto her roof as Chat Noir. Did she jump?

“You haven’t!” Marinette fought back.

“You’re right, I haven’t!” Adrien said immediately, hands up. “I only meant that I _think_ it would get good sunsets. With all that...western exposure...and the view of the Notre Dame…”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. “Mmmhmm…” she looked like she was sizing him up.

“I swear, it’s not like I’ve sneaked up there! I’ve never been and I thought it would be...pretty.”

Marinette’s eyes were still just slits as she said in an oddly threatening voice, “It _is_ pretty.”

Adrien’s heart was still pounding after getting caught in his lie. “Then...can we...go there? Instead of having you look at me like you’re going to skin me alive?”

Finally, that broke her. Marinette sputtered out a laugh. “Yes, we can.” She gestured to her pants. “I really don’t want to stay in these pants anyway.”

Adrien looked at her and his face went red yet again. He stared straight forward and grabbed Marinette’s elbow. _No, no, no, no. Don’t think about her getting out of her pants. No. No. No. You are a GENTLEMAN, Adrien Agreste, and you will not think that without her consent. No. No. No._

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, curiously.

“Let’s just hurry before we miss sunset.”

Adrien and Marinette got to the train not a moment too soon- Marinette was clearly getting uncomfortable in her sticky pants. And she said so, out loud. Which honestly, didn’t make things easier for Adrien’s pubescent brain. He was determined not to embarrass her or embarrass himself, so he just ignored every comment about her pants and all things wet and sticky. Instead, they had a great chat for the train ride to the Saint Paul stop about their favorite things about Paris. Adrien and Marinette agreed that the best thing was the Parisians, so the second half of the ride became a game of people watching. Making up stories for their fellow passengers, delighting in linking the stories together in the most bizarre ways.

They were laughing as they entered the boulangerie, Adrien still holding Marinette’s elbow. Tom and Sabine looked up as the two teenagers entered. “Adrien! Hello!” Sabine said immediately. Adrien loved Marinette’s mom. She had so many of the traits he missed from her his own mother, and the fact that he liked her better than Marinette’s ex (hah! Her _ex!_ ) was definitely a bonus. Her eyes smiled the way Marinette’s did, and the smile just got brighter when Sabine’s eyes tracked from their faces to Adrien’s hand on her elbow.

He quickly pulled it off.

“We didn’t expect you home so early.”

Tom wiped flour on his apron. “Yeah, I thought you were out on your romantic study date all night.”

 _“PAPA!”_ Marinette shouted. “Papa, I told you it’s just a study date, just a study...thing... not a _romantic study date!_ ”

“You went to the Eiffel Tower, Marinette. That’s romantic,” Sabine said. She turned to Adrien. “Wouldn’t you agree, dear?”

“Uh...Uh...I...agree with Marinette?”

Tom laughed. He walked over and clapped Adrien on the shoulder. Adrien’s entire body shook. “That’s a good practice to get into, son!”

“ _Papaaaa_ ,” Marinette groaned. “We’re not done studying. I just came home to change.” She gestured to her pants, which were now almost dry, but still smelled faintly of sugar and lemon-lime. “I spilled my Sprite.”

Sabine asked, “Then are you going back out? The tower is awfully far to commute back and forth, you know.”

Adrien answered this time. “We were thinking about studying on the balcony, actually.” Tom and Sabine exchanged smirks. “Um...if that’s allowed, I mean?”

“Of course it’s allowed, Adrien,” Sabine said. “It’s part of Marinette’s room. You’re welcome anywhere she gives you permission in that room.”

Tom’s smile faded and he stared at Adrien with a raised eyebrow. “But _only_ the places she gives you permission.”

“Oh là là, Papa, stop being so weird!” Marinette begged. Adrien met Tom’s eyes and gulped.

“Y-yes sir,” he said weakly.

Tom’s smile reappeared under his mustache. “Respect, honesty, and consent go a long way in this household. Do you kids want some croissants?”

“Consent?!” Marinette squeaked. “Adrien, come on, let’s get out of here before I die of embarrassment.”

“I’ll take some croissants!” Adrien called back, even as Marinette tugged his arm.

“Don’t encourage them!”

Sabine filled a bag and handed it to Adrien, but didn’t quite let go. Under her voice, she said, “There’s a speaker up there if you want to set the mood at all. To...study, of course.”

Adrien felt a lump in his throat and stared wide eyed at Sabine. What was she saying? Did she _want_ him to...seduce her or something?

“Maman!” Marinette pleaded. “Just give him the croissants, not creepy advice! You two are murdering me!”

“Okay, okay!” Sabine laughed. She pressed the croissants into his hands. “Have fun. Oh, and Adrien! Tā bǎ yītiáo tǎnzi fàng jìnle bái xiāngzi lǐle.” Sabine winked.

Adrien’s eyes went wide. Sabine had told him _she keeps a blanket in the white crate_ . He knew it would be useful information...it would get cold...but that seemed like clear advice to get him to cozy up to their daughter! What type of parents _were_ they?

Marinette yanked Adrien through the door and into the house, shouting back, “Goodbye, Maman and Papa! You can leave us _alone_ now, please!”

“I think they’re sweet,” Adrien said, following after her. He chuckled. “Your mom reminds me a little of my mom.”

“Really?” Marinette said, exasperated. “Would your mom talk in a different language that she knows you can’t understand just to tease you?”

He laughed. “No, she didn’t do that.”

“What did she say anyway?”

“Um...she just said ‘don’t get cold’.” It was close to the truth, right?

They climbed up to the main floor, then up to Marinette’s room, and then she walked over to her bed. “The balcony is through here. You just have to pull yourself up.” She opened the sky light, placed the computer and their books on the balcony floor, and waved Adrien over. “You can go up there and get set up while I change into something drier.”

“Alright,” Adrien said. He paused. “Hey, Marinette?”

“Yes, Adrien?”

Blood pounded in his ears. He could just tell her now, right? Obviously her parents liked him! Obviously Marinette had told them it was a date! That meant she had to be at least interested, right? But no, this was too soon. What was he doing?!

“ _Yes_ , Adrien?” Marinette repeated patiently.

Zut. He couldn’t do it. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

She smiled wide. “Of course, Adrien. I love having you over.”

“Maybe I can… maybe if you have more free time now, since you're, uh, not...busy with Luka, we can hang out more.”

“I would love that.”

Adrien grinned. He couldn’t help it! He stood there like an idiot, grinning at the pretty girl in her bedroom with blue eyes and a kind smile.

“Um...Adrien?”

“Yes, Mari?”

“I still need to change. Could you…” she pointed up towards the skylight, blushing slightly.

“Oh! Totally! Sorry!” He walked over to the bed, trying to ignore the thoughts pounding about it being _Marinette’s bed_ and the thoughts about _she would love that_ , and lifted himself up. Marinette shut the skylight after him, promising it would just be a moment, and covered it with a cloth. Adrien was alone for a moment, it seemed.

He had been up here of course, and by habit walked over to the railings. He hopped up and looked at the view Chat Noir loved to see. Adrien took a deep breath in and replayed the conversation they’d just had. So it wasn’t the confession that was on his lips. That was fine. She deserved something better than a spontaneous confession in her room while she was wet from spilled Sprite. She deserved the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 “LOL MDR REGARDE ÇA”: "[laugh out loud] ["mort de rire": dying of laughter] Look at This." The French use 'lol' the same way we do, even though it isn't English. They ALSO use 'MDR', which is French, obviously.  
> 2"atelier": Workshop, office, studio. This word kind of means all of that together!
> 
> (Edit: HUGE THANK YOU to Komo_Pineconeseed for helping me with Sabine's Mandarin in this chapter. You are a treasure and a hero!)


	14. Setting the Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys. First of all, thank you again for the many wonderful comments on last chapter! I love, LOVE hearing your thoughts. This story was super fun for me to write and I love sharing it with you.  
> I am so, so excited to share this particular chapter with you. Actually, every chapter from here on out just kind of...ahh! I'm very excited! That's all! Enjoy!!
> 
> (also you get to learn what my username means in this chapter if anyone ever wondered)

 Marinette sat back onto her bed, scooting away from the cloth-covered skylight just in case. “Tikki, can you _believe_ my parents?!”

 Tikki flew out and giggled. “They love you! And they know Adrien makes you happy! I don’t blame them for being excited that you two are getting closer.”

 “If they want us to get closer, they shouldn’t be so gosh-darn embarrassing!” Marinette griped. “He’s going to get scared and run off before I even have a chance to _talk_ to him.”

 “I don’t think that’s true, Marinette,” Tikki said. “You’ve been talking to him all afternoon! He didn’t even mind when you said the date was romantic- I think he liked that, actually! And he could have run away, but instead, he’s trapped on your roof. I think that’s a pretty good sign.”

 “Well sure, but I mean _really_ talk to him. Like about….feelings.”

 “Are you going to do that today?”

 “No...I think I need to wait a little longer. I don’t want to do anything rash, especially so soon after breaking it off with Luka. I know he took it well, but…”

 “You don’t want to look trashy, like Alya said, right?”

 “That’s part of it.” Marinette adjusted her position on the bed and started taking off her pants. Although Tikki literally changed Marinette’s clothes for her more often than Marinette did herself, she followed their personal etiquette and Tikki covered her eyes with an antenna. “But it’s not all of it. I also...I still don’t know how I feel about him in regards to Chat Noir.” She stood up and threw her pink pants in the hamper, going to her closet for a clean pair. At this point in the day, she _could_ just change into pajamas. She’d hung out with Adrien in pajamas before, albeit accidentally. But she wanted to look nice for him.

 “What do you mean?” Tikki asked.

 “Euh…a lot of different things. Do I like Chat Noir enough to put my feelings for him before Adrien? I mean, I don’t really know how Adrien feels about me...but I _know_ Chat is in love with Ladybug. Am I giving the wrong boy a chance? And then there’s that question about the lucky charm. Why did Chat have the lucky charm? He told me that Adrien gave it to him, but Adrien said he never let anyone else have it.” She picked out a pair of black jeans and started to pull them on. “One of them is lying.”

 “Oh, I don’t like assuming anyone is lying…” Tikki said. “Maybe they’re not lying!”

 “That’s sweet, Tikki, but Adrien can’t _keep_ a lucky charm _and_ let Chat Noir use it. Unless….” Marinette froze, one leg in her pants, the other still outside the leg. Adrien didn’t look like he was lying when he said he kept it. What if he _had_ kept it? What if Adrien and Chat… “You know, Adrien said he had been to my balcony before. He even mentioned at sunset!”

 Tikki floated from side to side, holding her own antenna uncomfortably. “And?”

 “Adrien hasn’t been to my balcony at sunset. But Chat Noir _has_! Tikki! Don’t you- wooaoh!” Marinette had tried to take a step forward but caught in her pants, instead fell face first into the carpet, arms swinging wildly. Frankly, it was insane either of the boys were even friends with her, the way she went about her life.

 “Marinette!” Tikki flew down to her, saying, “I can’t see- are you okay?!”

 Marinette just laughed. “I’m fine...I just tripped on my pants. It’s probably safer for me down here anyway,” she said. Marinette rolled over, rubbing her hands briefly to alleviate some of the carpet burn. She pulled her pants on while sitting and told Tikki, “I’m decent now.”

 Tikki lifted her antenna and smiled at her friend. “So, are we going up to the roof then?”

 “No, not yet. I’m having an epiphany about Chat Noir! I can’t go and see Adrien yet!”

 “Oh, I hoped maybe you forgot when you fell,” Tikki said sadly.

 “That’s not how it works, Tikki!” Marinette laughed. “It’s too suspicious. _Both_ of them have the same lucky charm, and _both_ of them claim to never let it go. If Adrien is Chat Noir, then maybe he just slipped up, mentioning the balcony thing! It makes so much sense, Tikki!”

 “Does it?” she asked, nervously.

  _Does it?_ Marinette asked herself. Adrien didn’t know who Ladybug was. He could be in love with her, not knowing she was Marinette. That made sense. But did it make sense that this busy, perfect, talented boy was _also_ her partner in saving Paris? That in all the two million people, her crush was the flirty, often inappropriate, and never on model-behavior Chat Noir? “Well...I thought….”

 Tikki fiddled with her hands, almost in guilt. Marinette knew that she knew who Chat Noir was. She knew the secret was hard on Tikki, and she didn’t like pushing her tiny friend. Tikki took a deep breath. “Marinette, you know I can’t tell you who Chat Noir is. When you find out...it shouldn’t be from me, anyway. But most importantly, I don’t want wondering to hurt your partnership with him. What if he’s not who you want him to be? You’ve grown so close. I don’t want you to be disappointed and never cooperate again.”

 “That’s a good point, Tikki,” Marinette admitted. “I guess….if I thought he was _Adrien Agreste_ and it turned out to be some random guy, I’d be pretty disappointed. Even though Chat Noir is amazing as is.”

 “He really is. And so is Adrien! Adrien is your partner, too- just at school. But to expect him to be your everything? That’s a lot of pressure to put on one person without really knowing…And it’s a lot of pressure to put on Chat Noir, too. You should like Chat Noir for Chat Noir, not for someone else’s traits.”

 Marinette stood up. She looked at the skylight, hearing very faint music playing from above. Adrien had found the speakers that her mom had mentioned. The thought of joining him upstairs in that romantic atmosphere was killing her, and staying down here wondering about Adrien surely wasn’t as good as actually experiencing more time with him. “It’s probably just wishful thinking,” Marinette said.

 “Would you like it?”

 “Would I like what?” Marinette asked, turning back to Tikki, who was still bobbing slowly and uncomfortably in the air.

 “If Chat Noir was Adrien behind his mask,” Tikki clarified.

 “Oh, Tikki. I would _love_ it.”

 “Because you love Adrien?”

 “Because I’d have someone to share _every_ part of my life with, and that person would be someone I already trust, already get along with, and yes, already love. Plus, I could stop feeling so guilty every time I flirt back with Chat,” she admitted.

 “I’m sorry you’re so lonely, Marinette. And I’m sorry that I can’t tell you who he is,” Tikki said. She sounded very sad, sniffling like she was going to cry.

 “Tikki, I don’t blame you! You’re so many of those things for me already. I would be a lot more lonely if I didn’t have your friendship, trust, and love.”

 “Oh, Marinette!” Tikki zoomed right to her cheek and nuzzled Marinette. She laughed and hugged her tiny kwami right back. It was absolutely true. As much as Tikki couldn’t give her everything a hypothetical Adrien-Chat-Noir could, Marinette wouldn’t trade Tikki for the world. “Now, we don’t want to leave your Prince Charming all alone on the top of the tower! He’s waiting for you!”

 Marinette blushed, mind back on everything Adrien. She opened her jacket for Tikki. “You’re right. I can juggle him and Chat Noir, right?”

 Tikki flew into Marinette’s jacket but before she settled down, she leaned up. “Do you want a hint?”

 “About Chat Noir?” Marinette asked, shocked Tikki would ever offer. Did she? “Um, yes!”

 “He’s a really good guy. You will like him.”

 “You know, as vague as that is,” Marinette teased, using her finger to give Tikki a noogie, “I think that’s all I need to know right now.” She let her jacket fall into place over Tikki and opened the sun roof, then climbed through. Adrien was playing her instrumental study mix, Saint-Saëns’s music flooding the balcony.

 As Marinette sat in the window supported by just her upper body strength, she looked over at her banisters. Adrien sat on the banister with one leg in front, one leg bent at his side. An arm hung at his side casually. The setting sun was directly in front of him, blacking out his silhouette. And when the wind rustled his hair just right, all he was missing was a tail, ears, and army boots and he looked exactly like…” _Chat Noir_ ,” she whispered.

  _No, Marinette. You’re not wasting your time on such wishful thinking._ She finished pulling herself all the way up and stood. _Although...damn, if that isn’t a likeness._

 Hearing her rustle around, Adrien’s silhouette turned. Then swung his legs over to be on the safe side of the balcony. “Hey, Marinette!” he called out with an excitement that didn’t match only being apart for three minutes.

 Marinette put a hand up to block the sun. She could register the colors of Adrien now, and all the illusions of Chat Noir melted away. The only thing left that really reminded her of Chat Noir was that Cheshire cat grin on his face. “Hey, Adrien! Sorry to keep you waiting.”

 “Oh, I didn’t mind. But come hurry! The sun is about to set!” He waved her over frantically, as if this sunset was the only one they could ever watch.

 Marinette laughed and raced over to the banisters. She leaned into them, right next to Adrien. Marinette smiled at Adrien and met his gaze. He smiled back. Adrien looked back at the sunset. Marinette saw him gulp nervously, possibly from her staring so much, so she turned to look as well. It had barely begun, but the sky was already lighting up red and pink over the ancient rooftops and soaring cathedral in front of them. And then- _then_ \- she felt him put an arm around her waist. And it was a good thing, because her knees buckled slightly and she would have crumpled to the ground if he wasn’t helping her stand up. What was he doing?!

 “You were right, Mari. You really do have incredible sunsets,” Adrien said. Which did _not_ answer Marinette’s mental question. She screamed again inside her mind, _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_ “I...uh...I know we should be working on our presentations. But I didn’t want to miss my chance. This chance! I didn’t want to miss _this_ chance.”

 “To watch the sunset?” Marinette asked in as calm a voice as she could muster. _Or to murder me with this warm hand of yours?!_

 “Yeah….to watch your sunset, specifically.” He pointed with his free hand, aka the one _not_ burning through Marinette’s shirt and directly to her heart, to the distance. “My view over there is completely different. And my window isn’t westward. I wanted to see what you get to see every night.”

 “Oh, I don’t come out here every night,” Marinette said.

 “I know that,” Adrien said back.

 Marinette squinted again. How would he know that? What was Adrien suggesting? Just like earlier in the day, when he had said something odd, Marinette felt a little bit of Ladybug creep in. The little bit of herself that may have to defend herself, or figure out some kind of puzzle. “What do you mean, ‘you know that’?”

 “Oh! Oh, uh, I meant...I’ve been with you for dinner enough to know you’re not here every night!” He forced a laugh and Adrien’s hand on Marinette’s waist grew a little looser.

 The Ladybug inside her said _oh, hell no_ , and Marinette actually pulled herself closer to his side and put her head against his shoulder. She could hear Adrien almost squeak in surprise. And then...victory! His hand settled back in place, calmer and more secure than ever before. _Yeah, you better not move that hand, monsieur! My balcony, my rules._ She inhaled the mix of crisp, October air and Adrien’s scent, feeling more herself with every breath. “Look at how the sky matches the leaves now,” she said softly.

 Timidly and slowly, Adrien put his own head on Marinette’s inclined head. She could hear his heart beating and feel him breathe. Marinette was witness to everything that kept Adrien alive at the moment. Part of her hoped she also made the list. “It’s incredible. You know, this view reminds me of your Summertime Sundress you made this year.”

 “Which one?”

 “The red and orange one,” Adrien answered. “With the halter top. The torso piece is really structured and has all that overlapping, kind of like Notre Dame, but the colors match this sunset. And the bottom just kind of flows, like the sky.”

 “How do you remember that?” Marinette didn’t dare move her head, but she did look up through her hair at his face. The sun continued its descent and new shades of red flashed over the city. They painted Adrien’s face in beautiful hues and dark, dramatic shadows.

 “You told me about it while you were making it. I asked to see it when you were done, so you wore it to my house the next week. I thought you looked absolutely beautiful.” Marinette’s heart flipped inside her chest. Adrien continued, “And the dress was just amazing and so creative! Seeing this with you right now, it’s like I get to see some of what goes on inside your head. Maybe. If it even is your inspiration.”

 “It was, for that dress,” she said breathily. “I’m very impressed you remembered it so well.”

 “What, you think I wouldn’t remember something so pretty? And the dress she wore, too?”

 Marinette giggled. If anything about Adrien reminded her of Chat, it was the way Adrien flirted. _And he really is flirting…_  “Even with all the fashion you see working all the time?”

 “Eugh,” Adrien gagged. “ _Especially_ then. I don’t mean to say I don’t like my dad’s fashion line...I do! His designs are great. But Dad doesn’t handle the teen prêt a porter line. He oversees high fashion and the adult lines. The stuff I have to wear is so….bland. It’s just... _polite_ and _typical_ and _generic_. Your designs have personality.”

 “Is that why you practically made out with Alya’s purse?”

 “What?” Adrien asked, pulling away just a bit to look at Marinette, an exaggerated scandalized look on his face.

 “We all saw you!” Marinette put on moody eyes and puckered lips, teasing him, “You stared into the pleather eye holes of that purse like it was your future. Were you looking for the purse’s personality?”

 “Someone’s been reading too many romance novels. ‘Stared into the pleather eye holes like it was my future’?”

 “Just calling them like I see them!” Marinette laughed. _And if Ladybug is your future, I’m really okay with that anyway._

 “Then fine. I _was_ looking for it’s PURSEonality. But I’ll only admit it because it’s such a good pun.”

 Marinette groaned. “Ugh, Adrien!” She hit him lightly. “I was surprised you didn’t enter the contest to win a chance at your own purse this summer, to be honest.”

 Adrien smiled and stood a little taller. He said “That’s because I already…” Then he shrunk down momentarily. “...actually, that would have been a good idea.”

 “What were you going to say?”

 “Uh, nothing. I realized I was wrong. That’s all. Oh look, the sunset!”

 Marinette was still smiling. What an adorable dork of a man she was with. And what a terrible attempt at diversion. Still, she obediently crossed her arms on top of the banister and leaned forward again. She didn’t say anything, but she did inhale deeply.

 This was very nice. Feeling comfortable and confident around Adrien. Even if he was nothing but Adrien Agreste (which was already amazing), having a moment of seeing him as Chat gave her just as much confidence as dating Luka had. It was that idea that she was actually desirable. It propelled her to do and say things she had never learned to do before donning her mask.

 Thankfully, the night kept giving her those opportunities to learn confidence and Adrien also leaned forward, forearms touching, elbow to elbow, instead of standing literally anywhere else.

For a few moments, the music provided the only noise. It coupled with the sounds of the streets and the beat of Adrien’s heart.

 “It’s almost gone,” Marinette said quietly. The sun had sunk behind the buildings now, shooting rays of light and color into a swiftly darkening sky. In fact, the lights of the Notre Dame were now on and fighting to compete with nature.

 “I wish we could just move our chairs a few steps and watch this 43 more times,” Adrien said wistfully.

 Marinette sighed. Wouldn’t that be something? “Unfortunately, mon Petit Prince, that isn’t an option here,” Marinette replied, matching his reference.[1] She turned to him with a shy smile. “But if you’d like…” the sun lowered and Marinette was very glad for the dark to hide her blushing face. “You can stay a little longer. We can read for French Lit together.”

 Adrien waited until the sun was totally gone for his answer. He stood up quickly and said, “Ah, nope! One sunset, as promised. Check! See ya, Marinette!” He comedically saluted ( _a very familiar salute)_ and spun on one foot to leave.

 “Adrien!” Marinette laughed. She reached out and grabbed his hand as he spun around. It spun her, too. Her eyes were all on Adrien, now just a dark shape again, with his hair flicking as they spun. When they stopped spinning, she still held one hand.

 “Yes, Mademoiselle?”

 “You don’t have to go,”

 His grin was so wide and so mischievous, Marinette could see it in the dark. A chill breeze skittered around them and instinctively, Marinette took a step closer. In the dark with that glowing grin, he looked like Chat Noir again. _Am I just imagining things?_ As Adrien answered, “You don’t want me to go, ma chèrie?” He _sounded_ like Chat, too.

 “No,” Marinette said. The brave word made her heart pound and Tikki flutter right above it. “You’ll miss the opportunity to read about Notre Dame while staring at Notre Dame!” She said, waving to the cathedral.

 “And I _guess_ that the company would be tragic to miss too, right?” Adrien paused. “Get it? Because _Le Bossu de Notre Dame_ is a tragedy?[2]”

 “Oh, boo. They’re not funny if you have to explain them, chaton.” Marinette chided. She bit her tongue hard the moment she heard herself, once again glad he couldn’t see her face. But it also meant she couldn’t read his.

Finally, with his voice nearly a whisper, Adrien said “...chaton?”

Marinette gulped. She could just play it off...right? “Yeah, chaton. Because you’re not good enough at jokes to be a real Chat yet. No Chat Noir at least.”

“Hey!” Adrien stomped a foot. “I am _purrfect_ at puns, I will have you know. I may be out of practice with literature related jokes, but that’s just because I focus in class instead of _paw_ ndering the next best _hairball_ of a joke.” He crossed his arms and it looked like he was pouting. “My puns could send Chat Noir, as hilarious and attractive as he is, chasing his own tail.” 

“Okay, I believe you,” Marinette laughed. She stared at him as close as she could in the dark. Why so many cat puns on hand? _Am I thinking too much into this? Or not enough?_

She walked over to the wall and turned on her string lights, bathing them both in light to see. Their literature books were on the wooden spool table, so Marinette grabbed hers and carried it to the lawn chair. “We can read over here.”

He didn’t grab his book right away. Instead, Adrien made a detour at Marinette’s white crate. He opened it and pulled out a blanket.

Okay. Not even Chat Noir has known that was there. “How did you know-”

“Would you believe I’m a psychic genius?”

“Not if you have to explain your jokes I wouldn’t,” Marinette jibed.

“In that case, your mom told me.”

“In Mandarin?!” Marinette asked, sitting up so quickly the hammock threatened to make her fall. “I thought you said that she said it was going to be cold!”

Adrien was clearly blushing. He busied himself by gathering the pink blanket into his arms. “So maybe she was a little more specific about how to deal with the cold.” Blanket in arms, he walked over to Marinette (stopping to grab his book on the way). “I have to keep some secrets to myself, don’t I? I need to keep an air of mystery.”

Frankly, Marinette had enough mystery in her life already. But she didn’t tell him that.

It was very difficult to seat two people on a lawn chair, but gosh darn it, they were going to try. Marinette and Adrien laughed, redirecting each other to make the hammock-like fabric stop rocking them both out. Eventually, the two of them got in the groove of listening to their own body language. Adrien softly draped the blanket over both of them.

She scooted as close to him as possible, using the shared blanket as an excuse. They were now even closer than they had been by the wall; Adrien was practically sitting in her lap. She could absolutely get used to this.

Five minutes of reading had gone by. The thrill of sitting so close had worn itself into a warm state of life, just like a second blanket. Marinette was growing accustomed to his smell (which wasn’t _Adrien_ branded cologne, she noticed), heartbeat, and movement as he turned each page. She didn’t want him to ever leave.

In a sudden jerk, Adrien sat up and rocked them both. “HUNCH!” He shouted.

“What?!”

“I should have said ‘I have a _hunch_ that missing the company would be tragic. _Hunch_ was the perfect! word!” He jabbed his finger at Quasimodo on the cover of the book and shook his head, clearly disappointed in himself.

“Ah, L’esprit de l’escalier,”[3] Marinette sighed wistfully. “The joke also doesn’t work if you say it ten minutes too late.”

“Awwww, please? Let’s just pretend I said it the first time, please?”

 Marinette laughed. “So you _want_ me to consider you a pun machine?”

 “I do.”

 She laughed again. Marinette rolled her eyes wide for Adrien to see. “Fine.” She booped his nose, noticing how it crinkled in delight after the fact. God, how adorable could he be? How was it possible that the more she knew him, the better he got?? “Consider yourself considered a pun machine.”

 “Better than Chat Noir?” Adrien asked, leaning close with sparkling green eyes.

 “Almost,”

 “ _Marinette!!_ ”

 “Good grief, Adrien! Why would that even matter?” She pushed him lightly, but he slowly bounced back to her side. “Sure. For tonight at least, we can consider you better than Chat Noir.”

 That seemed to placate him. He sprouted a confident smile and nuzzled himself back into place against Marinette’s shoulder. Adrien hummed in delight.

  _Better than Chat Noir…?_ She listened to his happy hum, reverberating through Adrien’s entire body. It was just two steps away from a purr, if she was honest. _No, Marinette, stop comparing them. Remember what Tikki said._ She turned a page and kept reading. He was here tonight. He was the one on the balcony. She supposed that made it true. For tonight at least, Adrien was much better than Chat Noir.

 And they couldn’t _possibly_ be the same person.

 

——

 

But _could they?!_ Marinette had tried to stop imaging her theory, she really had. But Friday during school, Adrien winked at her and she swore it was Chat’s wink. And Friday during maths, when she had to run out to save the day, Chat grabbed Ladybug while they flew from a roof and his arm fit around her just like Adrien’s had.

 Over the weekend, she didn’t see Adrien because he said he was busy at a shoot with his father all weekend at Giverny. There was no akuma and no sight of Chat Noir, either.

 And then Monday, after Adrien told Marinette a particularly impressive pun, Nino caught up to her and said, “He’s doing this to you now, too?”. According to Nino, Adrien claimed he liked to practice his puns on him, but would never tell Nino what he was practicing for. Nino had just laughed at Marinette’s misfortune, but Marinette added this fact to her growing conspiracy theory.

  Later that day, when she asked Chat if he practiced his puns, he had replied, “A genius doesn’t need to practice, but a master knows they must.” Right before striking a thoughtful pose and tripping bad enough to hurt his ankle.

 And then that night, when Adrien was meeting Marinette for a retry of their study date at the Eiffel Tower, he wobbled as he walked and claimed he hurt his ankle in fencing that afternoon. Adrien didn’t _have_ fencing on Monday afternoons.

 Tuesday, she had overheard Adrien talking to Nino about physics homework. The way he described scrambling a magnet was entirely too familiar. She wasn’t the only one- Alya even commented that his methods sounded a lot like the Chat Noir/Ladybug battle against Puissaimant, to which Adrien started to awkwardly laugh, insist that maybe they got the idea from him, laugh again, and quickly change the subject.

 And now, fighting a crèpe tossing Breton akuma, she kept looking for Adrien in Chat.

 She was a very poor fighter because of it. Marinette watched the way Chat parried the crèpes with his baton, spinning her yo-yo our as a shield. Was this anything like how Adrien would bat away flying evil crèpes?

 Chat was advancing on Le Breton and turned to look at Lady. Typically, it just took one glance for them to reach each other’s body language and anticipate their next attack. But he did a double take. “My Lady, I know I’m delightful to look at, but shouldn’t you be watching this dude?!”

  _This dude?_ That sounded more Nino than Adrien. But Adrien did use ‘dude’ occasionally. So maybe he was just influenced by-

 “ _Ladybug!”_ Chat shouted again.

 “Oh! Sorry!” She looked back at Le Breton, who was ranting again about the imminent separation of Brittany with him at the head.

 Le Breton held a stick of butter. When he flipped it across the hot stone griddle, a crepe flew at his victims, wrapping them into triangle-shaped snacks. He had a holster full of butter at his side. Did Adrien like crèpes? She couldn’t remember. But ugh, this was still not the right time to think about that! _Okay, Ladybug. Focus. Focus!_

 As Ladybug paused to consider the villain, he held the butter longer on the billig, the hot stone griddle. It looked as if the crepe was growing until an enormous kouign-amann rocketed off the hot stone. “Bon apêtit!” Le Breton roared. The thick, buttery cake flew at Ladybug. She helped and moved out of the way, letting the cake fly past her and knock into a passerby, who quickly became enveloped in yellow kouign-amann.

 “Ladybug, get over here!” Chat yelled. He didn’t look thrilled.

 Immediately, Ladybug joined her partner. Chat continued deflecting attacks as he stared at her. His expression was not as angry anymore, instead simply concerned. “Where are you today? Is something wrong?”

 “I’m sorry, Chat. I’m just distracted.”

 “You’ve been distracted all fight. You keep staring at me, staring off into the distance...don’t get me wrong, I love the attention, but this isn’t _you_ , Ladybug! You’re focused, direct, and efficient! You don’t day dream during battle. Heck, you hardly even crack a joke. What’s going on?”

 “I...I’m sorry. I’ve just been figuring something out and it’s throwing me for a loop.”

 “Can you put it off for now? Because this guy should be a piece of cake, and it’s taking us way too long to turn him into leftovers.”

 He was right. This should be an easy fight and Ladybug was letting people turn into desserts! Chat Noir didn’t want that, Adrien wouldn’t want that, and in the end of the day it didn’t matter if they were the same or different people if Chat Noir was turned into a pastry.

 “Okay. I got this.” Ladybug shook herself out. She started spinning her yo-yo again staring hard at the Breton Chef with black and white skin, stripes all over his clothes. “Prepare to be flattened!” She yelled out.

 From the corner of her eye, she could see Chat grin. But now was not the time to over analyze that. Ladybug stared out at Le Breton, instead analyzing his attacks, his weaknesses, his focus. He was, as Chat said, very simple. In fact… “Chat, I think we can do this without our miraculous abilities.”

 “That sounds sweet, My Lady. What do you have in mind?”

 “We need to go for the billig. So…” she narrowed her eyes, planning and analyzing. “Let’s separate them.”

 This was not the time or place to analyze if Chat was Adrien in disguise. Instead, it was time to focus all her attention on seeing Chat as Chat Noir, her partner. It was time to tune into their incredible instincts and synergy. She got into a running position, yo-yo still spinning, and glanced at Chat. He lowered his body to pounce and nodded.

 And they were off! Ladybug zipped to a nearby lamppost, holding on far above Le Breton. Chat waited for a flying crepe and started bounding on top of them, like frogs on lilypads, all the way to Le Breton. He landed on his head, wrapping his limbs around the villain’s face. “They say Ladybug can’t take her eyes off me. When it comes to us, monsieur, looks like I can’t take me off your eyes!”

 Le Breton yelled in frustration, flinging crepes into the air in an attempt to dislodge Chat. Finally realizing that angle would never work, he dropped his butter and started swatting at Chat. With Le Breton’s arm up, Ladybug took her chance- she launched her yo-yo into Chat’s one open hand. Chat Noir grabbed Le Breton’s butter holster with his other hand and zipped with both in grip up to Ladybug. “Whoops!” Chat taunted, waving the butter holster at their enemy. “You butter be more careful with your stuff!”

 “Give that back you vermin!” Le Breton shouted. He snarled and pulled a crab out of his pocket, sizzling it head first on the hot stone. The crab grew in size until he launched the flying, snapping, crustacean at the two heroes.

 “That was unexpected!” Ladybug shrieked as she dove into Chat to push them both out of the way.

 “Crabs usually is!” Chat replied.

 “Gross, Chat,” Ladybug said. She already had her yo-yo spinning to deflect any more flying, giant seafood.

 Le Breton pulled a fish out this time. “Ah!” Chat called, “my favorite! But it’s a real shame...I like my fish served-“ the fish was already giganticized and swimming through the air to them both. Chat grabbed a butter from the holster and chucked it right at the fish’s head. “With a little melted butter!”

 When the fish and butter collided, they...quite literally exploded. The force of the miniature explosion knocked Chat and Ladybug off their lamppost and knocked Le Breton off his feet. Normal sized crèpes and fish scattered on the street.

 “You waste my resources!” Le Breton raged.

 “That’s kind of the idea,” Ladybug said to Chat with a smirk. “Batter up?”

 Chat extended his baton. “I think you mean _butter_ up!” Le Breton started rapid firing fish and crustaceans from his hot billig. Ladybug would use her yo-yo to slice and then toss Chat a pat of butter, he would hit it with his baton, it would crash into the flying fish, and more and more Brittany delicacies littered the cobbled street. Until finally, Le Breton stalled.

 “Now!” Chat called out. Ladybug could feel tingling in her body, telling her their exact plan. Without needing help from her brain first, she zipped on to a low-hanging street post. Below her, Chat burst through the pile of fish and crepes to tackle Le Breton. Ladybug swung down with her string and knocked the hot billig out of his reach.

 The villain screamed after it, but Chat was holding him down too tight. “Oh, don’t try to butter us up,” he said. “You’re fish food.”

 Ladybug released the yo-yo and launched herself after the fallen hot stone. It had a line cord hanging out the end, so she picked it up and ripped it out, rather unceremoniously.

 Much more elegantly than that, the little purple akuma fluttered out of the machine. Ladybug launched her yo-yo after the akuma, cleansing it immediately. She looked to Chat. He quickly climbed off their defeated villain. Le Breton magically changed back to a sad, older gentleman in a striped shirt with a crèpe-making billig. [4]As he returned to normal, the scattered baked goods and seafood all disappeared, and the crèpe-wrapped people fell free. Without a lucky charm, no other damage could magically repair itself- which was why it was lucky in itself that their only problem was a now slightly dented lamppost. It had never been built to hold the weight of two teenagers, after all.

 The civilians now free from their crepes and cakes cheered, many rushing to shake the hands of Chat Noir and Ladybug. Including Alya- how did she keep getting into these messes?? Ladybug, still thinking of their mission and focused on what she needed to do, shook their hands efficiently. “Thank you, yes, you’re welcome, yes, it’s our pleasure, but I need to see the gentleman now.” She broke through the crowd into middle where the Breton man sat whimpering on the ground.

 Ladybug crouched down. Chat spread his legs wide in a protective stance, arms stretched out to keep the fans away. He’d done this before with fans clamoring for her attention, even with zombies clamoring for her kiss. And although right now he only had to suffer through gratitude and compliments, she still appreciated everything he did. _Would Adrien-_

  _No. This man first._ “Are you okay, sir?”

 “Please, Ladybug, what happened?”

 She put out a hand and held his. “You were akumatized, sir. What were you feeling before you blacked out?”

 “Oh, no! Digarez! Digarez![5] I’m so sorry!”

“You shouldn’t apologize for having strong emotions, sir. It happens to all of us.” She could feel Chat Noir beginning to relax. The crowd was thinning out considerably. So Ladybug continued, “What is important is finding the source of your emotions so you can clear your mind. And practice calming breaths to feel better when it acts up. What was on your mind?”

 The man sighed. “My country. I move here to Paris from Vannes since two weeks. I hope for many other Breizh[6] to find and speak with, but it is not here. Even in Vannes. We fly the Gwenn-ha-du, our flag, but my people wear our dress like it is a costume. The language is dying. And here, I do not even find that.”

 Ladybug sat down all the way next to the man. “I’ve always wanted to go to Brittany.” She smiled at him.

 “You, Ladybug? Fashionable modern Parisian?” After Ladybug confirmed, he sat a little taller and added, “as you should! It is the most beautiful country in the world!”

 “So why come to Paris?”

 “My work,” he grumbled.

 Ladybug nodded. She could hear the frustration in his voice. Carefully, she asked, “Do you want to know my favorite part of Paris?”

 “The Eiffel Tower?”

 “No, sir. Parisians like you. And I know you might not consider yourself _Parisian_...but that’s what makes this so great! This is a city of cultures, a city of blending, and a city of love. Including love for your own culture. Listen on the street! The people don’t just speak French.”

 “I speak Chinese!” Chat chimed in.

 “Yes, thank you, minou,” Ladybug laughed. Then she did a double take. _Wait. He speaks...what?!_

 “And I speak Breizh,” the man added, starting to sound happier. The man’s response pulled Ladybug back to attention, away from her conspiracy theories.

 “Right!” Ladybug said, grabbing his arm encouragingly. “And you’re not the only one.” Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and opened her photo album. “Take a look….at...aha! Here!” She had come to a few photos Ladybug had taken in Montparnasse. Not of the famous tower, but specifically a picture of a beautiful wooden door between a Korean Barbecue place and a Sushi bar. Next to the big door was a small sign, written in both French and Breton, with a black and white ermine on top.

 “What? What is that?” he asked, straining to see the photo. Ladybug zoomed in until he could read the sign. “Mission Bretonne. Ti ar Vretoned.”

 The man’s eyes grew wide. He asked “What is that?” again, but with a voice full of excitement.

 “It’s a Breton cultural center. They have festivals, they teach language classes, they have get-togethers...Have you been to Montparnasse yet, monsieur?”

 “Only for the train,” he said, shaking his head.

 Ladybug smiled. She flipped through more pictures she had taken in that arrondissement. Crèperies lined the street. The Gwenn-ha-du flew in windows and in front of buildings. Celtic stores stood proudly behind a woman in traditional dress. She looked up at the man, tears filling his eyes. Ladybug felt Chat sit down next to them. “I think you ought to visit Montparnasse, monsieur. You’re not the only Breton here, and you’re not the only one who misses home.”

 Chat spoke up, his voice soft and gentle. “The key is to find a way to make your new home...feel like home. Finding people you love, involving yourself with your peers who have the same goals as you- that’s how you find what you’re looking for. Not through staying home alone, wishing your life was different but never trying to make it so. You might live in Paris, but life in Paris is what you make it, monsieur. Paris is the people you choose to be with.”

 They stood up, each grabbing one of the man’s hands.

 He wiped his eyes. “ _Trugarez [7]_, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Thank you. I did not expect to meet you so early in living in Paris.”

 Ladybug laughed. “Hopefully we won’t meet often! Stay out of trouble, sir.”

 “I will. Right now, I search for the subway to Montparnasse. Thank you! Goodbye!”

 Ladybug and Chat Noir waved goodbye before running off. Chat turned to Ladybug as they ran, making headway for the rooftops. “I don’t know about you, but I am _really_ in the mood for a crèpe now.”

 She laughed. Spending a bit more time with Chat? With or without the conspiracy theory, today, that sounded like a great idea. “Okay.”

 Chat looked back at her, his tail straight out behind him. “Wh-what?” He tripped over his own feet.

 “Chat!” Ladybug called back, doubling back to pick up her fallen partner. “What happened to always landing on your feet?”

 “What happened to you _never_ saying yes?!”

 “Just a quick crèpe. We didn’t use our miraculous abilities, so...I’m sure Tikki won’t mind if I stay out a bit longer.”

 “I know a place!” Chat grinned. “Meet you on the Louvre palace roof?”

 “See you there. And Chat! Bring me a nutella and strawberry one.”

 He saluted and bounded off. Ladybug turned the other way, zipping towards the nearby meeting place.

 In the few minutes she had alone, Ladybug thought about all her new information. So Chat spoke Chinese...like Adrien...Chat was about half a head taller than her...like Adrien...Chat had experiences in a new environment where he had to make friends...like Adrien! _Okay, that’s a stretch, even for me._

 Marinette had come to the realization that this was a real, true possibility. The ramifications of that would be enormous. Like she’d told Tikki, it would mean she and Adrien had so much more in common and so much more to relate about.

 But like Tikki had told her...what if he _wasn’t_ Adrien? How would that disappointment make her feel? Before this month, Marinette had never thought of them as a possibility to be the same person. In fact, she hadn’t cared who Chat Noir really was until recently- he was just _Chat Noir_. He was her best friend and partner and one of the many reasons she continued to fight as Ladybug.

 With Adrien’s newfound close friendship, Marinette considered herself to have two very good guy friends; Adrien and Chat Noir. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if it stayed that way, right? What mattered was that she trusted him. She trusted Chat Noir with her life on countless occasions, as well as with her feelings and some of her more vague secrets. If Ladybug did a dance and said ‘I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng’, she could even trust him with _that_. ‘Could she’ and ‘should she’ were still two very different questions. Marinette knew she shouldn’t trust him with her identity.

 But _god_ , how she wanted to. If Chat could be her friend in real life...especially if Chat was _already_ her friend in real life...telling him who she was shouldn’t be a real problem. It would just make her life so much happier.

 That was when Chat finally returned. He had one hand on his helicoptering baton, the other hand balancing two paper plates. Ladybug didn’t bother asking how he got them- in costume? Out of it? Did he pay? She just accepted the delightful snack in front of her, the colors of her costume bleeding out the sides of the crepe.

 Chat had ordered a very simple lemon and sugar crèpe. He passed her a fork and sat at her side. They took a first few bites, Marinette just melting at the sweet treat. She seemed to like sweets just a _little_ more than normal when wearing Tikki’s suit. “My lady, you’re acting out of sorts today. And I don’t mind, I really don’t, but staring at me instead of the battle? Agreeing to hang out afterwards? Did we swap purr-sonalities without me noticing?”

 Ladybug giggled. “The fact that you asked in pun should answer that for you, chaton.”

 Chat’s ears fluttered in delight. Ladybug noticed they did that when he was happy. So maybe she’d started to notice things about Chat in general, not just traits Adrien could share. The two ate more of their crepes in relative silence. “Why did you look so surprised that I speak Chinese?” he asked after swallowing a bite of crepe. “You’ve heard me talk to civilians in Mandarin Chinese before.”

 “Oh...I guess you’re right. I’d forgotten.” More likely, she hadn’t bothered remembering before.

 “I speak Mandarin, you speak English, we both speak French, _obviously_.”

 “I don’t speak English well,” Ladybug corrected, blushing slightly.

 “You speak it just fine!” Chat Noir disagreed. “All those poor Australian tourists that were stuck on the tour bus? They understood you perfectly!”

 “But I can’t...write it well or anything.”

 “My Lady, I don’t expect we’ll be battling a judgemental English teacher any time soon, who can only face defeat through a well-worded essay,” Chat teased.

 Ladybug laughed out loud. She noticed Chat’s ears wiggle again to match his cheshire grin. _That_ she had seen on Adrien, but in her heart, that grin always belonged to Chat. Adrien only borrowed it from him. “I like spending time with you,” she said. “Non-fighty time, I mean.”

 “That’s because I’m the cat’s meow,” he said, scooting closer to her and waggling his eyebrows. “I like spending time with you too, buginette. You...you make my days a lot brighter.” Chat looked away for a moment. “I know you’re dating that _guy_ , and I don’t mean to step on his most likely hairy and hideous toes, but…”

 “M. Temporary? Oh, Chat, he’s been gone for awhile now.”

 “What?!” Chat leapt up in shock. “How did you not tell me?!”

 “I don’t know,” Ladybug answered, “it never came up! Sit back down, Chat!”

 “How long is _awhile_? Do you know how many cat-and-bug puns I’ve been holding back because you were caught under a glass?”

 “It’s been about a week now. Sit down, please?” Ladybug answered. Chat sat down, but shook his head at Ladybug. “I’m very disappointed in you, My Lady. Well, now that cat’s out of the bag. Monsieur Temporary is now… Monsieur Unluckiest Guy in the World.”

 “Not the guy who literally dresses like a black cat?”

 Chat grinned again. “No, because _I_ have my lucky charm.” _Right, the one in his pocket...the one that belongs to Adrien_ , Marinette thought. But Chat interrupted her. “I have you. My lucky ladybug.”

 Ladybug looked up in surprise. Her heart tightened. Chat Noir was looking at her without masking his expression, now that he knew she wasn’t dating. His smile was warm, his glowing green eyes were soft; he truly looked in love. The scariest part to Ladybug was that she recognized this expression. She’d seen it on Adrien earlier that day, when they spent lunch together, their last meeting before the class presentation. She swallowed the enormous lump in her throat. “You know...minou...I have a lucky charm, too.”

 Chat opened his mouth and quickly closed it. Evidently he decided that he preferred listening to her finish to cracking another joke.

 Ladybug felt hot. She was nervous. What was she doing? This was a terrible idea! Or was it? “My lucky charm…” Was this idea actually genius? After all, unless her conspiracy theory was wrong, this wouldn’t affect her at all. No one else would get it. If she was wrong, it would go right over Chat’s head. “I have a lucky charm that a friend gave me, a very, very good friend. He made it for me.”

 Chat poked another bite of crèpe with his fork. But he suddenly snapped up to listen to Ladybug, absolutely silent. In fact, it felt like they were in a vacuum. Marinette swore she could hear her own voice as if she spoke under three meters of water. “It’s small, just beads on a string. One of the beads has a little bird, and one has a bell.” She leaned closer to Chat and tapped the bell under his chin. It rang and he jumped in place. “Kind of like yours. I wish I could keep it in my suit, but as you’ve pointed out, I don’t have pockets. So I only get to wear it or keep it on hand when I’m a civilian.”

 Marinette could hear her own heart beat. But she was in this deep. She had to keep going. She had to set the trap for Adrien...if he was listening, that is. _Come find me_ , she screamed out in her mind. _Find me! If you’re him, tell me!_ “I love it. He gave it to me...my friend, I mean...because I gave one to him. It was the sweetest, most rom-...um...rewarding gift I received for my birthday. I don’t know how lucky it really is, but I think the power in lucky charms comes from the emotions we attach to them.

“This really, really…” Ladybug stared into Chat’s eyes, which were unblinking and growing wider and wider, _“really_ good friend of mine made the lucky charm for me. It already had all of his emotions in it, and I’ve attached all of mine. So when I have it, I feel confident. I think that’s what makes it lucky.” She swallowed again and repeated a little more concisely, in a very practiced manner, “The emotions we attach to lucky charms provide the confidence we need to give ourselves a better chance at getting through the day. Maybe it’s luck, maybe it’s magic, or maybe it’s just our own subconscious... but it definitely works. There’s nothing wrong with a physical reminder of someone or something you love.”

She exhaled. Blood was pounding in her ears. The tiny bit of crèpe fell off of Chat’s fork, unnoticed. _I did it,_ Ladybug said to herself, _I set the trap._ “I have to go home now, Chat. My family is expecting me.” She leaned in close to his frozen face and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his cheek. Her lips touched just the slightest brush of stubble. Maybe one day soon she could compare that feeling to Adrien as well. “Goodbye, mon chaton.” 

Ladybug launched herself into the distance, heart pounding in her ears. She could certainly use the good luck now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 "“I wish we could just move our chairs a few steps and watch this 43 more times,”... “Unfortunately, mon Petit Prince...": They are referencing the French children's classic, "Le Petit Prince". The main character (the Little Prince) loves sunsets and lives on such a tiny planet that one day, he sees 43 sunsets in a single day just by moving his chair a little. The book is by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.  
> 2 "Le Bossu de Notre Dame": "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo  
> 3"L’esprit de l’escalier": Literally, "The spirit of the stairs". This is that feeling, or that moment, where you have a conversation and then much too late, you think of the perfect thing to stay. Such as when you're already going down the stairs after an argument. (it's a GREAT phrase, isn't it?!)  
> 4 Details about the akuma: So our akuma-of-the-day, Le Breton, has a lot of references to the Brittany region of France. They are VERY proud of their food, hence why he throws crèpes, seafood, and kougin-amann; all of these things are Brittany specialties and very delicious. Crèpes are traditionally made on "billig"s, which are hot stones. They're electric nowadays- circular and flat to make the perfect crèpes. His black and white striped shirt is also a Brittany region tradition. (Brittany is where I lived, so I have really loaded this guy up with useless trivia.)  
> 5 "Digarez": _Breton_ Sorry  
>  6 "My country...Breizh": SO Brittany is a separatist region with a long history (Celtic, largely) unique from the rest of France. Most modern people in Brittany consider themselves French and still just proud of their Brittany heritage, but some of the older people really cling to separatist ideas to the point of calling Brittany their own country. Think of Texas, or Quebec. Also, Breizh means "Breton" IN Breton, specifically in the part of Brittany where this guy is from. It gets more complicated than that, but that's all you need to know right now.  
> 5 "Trugarez": _Breton_ Thank you


	15. The Presentation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very, very much for the wonderful reception last chapter received. I'm REALLY glad you like it because chapters 14 and 15 and without a doubt my FAVORITE chapters in this whole story. And already, we've reached the penultimate chapter...!  
> You may have noticed I added this story to a series today. I'll talk more about that on THURSDAY (wow) when I post the last chapter (wow!).
> 
> Buckle up, my friends- these last two chapters are very short but very packed!

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit, Plagg, holy SHIT!” Adrien had been home for hours now. He had gone through the rest of his day after the Le Breton fight like a zombie. He didn’t remember practicing piano, finishing physics homework, or modelling for the upcoming Winter collection. But he had! Obviously! Because now he was in bed, covers up to his chin, thinking about the same thing he’d thought about all day. “ _ Holy shit, Plagg!” _

 “Yes, Adrien, I heard you the seven thousandth time,” Plagg groaned, pulling his tiny paws over his ears. 

 “But she said-”

 “I know,”

 “And she kissed-”

 “I know,”

 “And that means-”

 “ _I know!”_

 “Marinette-”

 “ _Yeesh_ , Adrien, _I know!_ You’ve been going on and on about this for hours now, give it a rest!”

 “Plagg, try to have some understanding! The girl I love...and the girl I like...my two best friends…they might...they could…”

 “Just go to sleep, Adrien, _please_ ,” Plagg begged. “I used to think your head-in-the-clouds oblivious blonde boy demeanor was annoying, but oh, how I’d give anything to get back Monsieur ‘Oh, she’s just a friend. Oh, that’s just a coincidence.’” He groaned loudly. “You know I love you, Adrien. But you are driving. Me. Insane!”

 “But does that mean I’m right? Does that mean Ladybug was talking about _my_ lucky charm that _I_ gave to Marinette? I mean, she practically quoted the thesis of our presentation, and…”

 “Once again, Adrien, you know I cannot confirm or deny any of this,” Plagg said, rubbing his temples in frustration. “You’re going to school tomorrow. That big presentation with Marinette. Please, do me a favor, and get this curiosity out of your system then.”

 Adrien stared up at the ceiling. Yes. He could do that! He could figure it out once and for all! The more he got to know Marinette, the more he had seen Ladybug traits in her. It made sense that he had fallen for Marinette if she was just showing Adrien more and more of who she really was, all the way around. It made sense he would fall for Marinette if she was really his Lady! But how could he know for sure? He could just...ask? No, you can’t just _ask_ someone if they’re actually the Miraculous Ladybug. She would deny it, anyone would! He had to...he could figure it out, right? Nobody knew Ladybug as well as Adrien Agreste!

 “Oh, but Adrien,” Plagg said, breaking the silence himself. “I hate to do this, but I have to remind you, or Tikki will kill me. Curiosity killed the cat. Please be careful...I don’t want you to get hurt.”

 Adrien pulled out a well-worn string of beads. “Don’t worry, Plagg. I’ll have my lucky charm.”

 “You’re _sleeping_ with that thing now, too?”

\---

 The following day, as Adrien’s class settled into Mlle Bustier’s classroom, anxiety settled into Adrien’s stomach. He had nearly bit his tongue off when he tried to talk to Marinette earlier and she had seemed just as anxious around him. Was that a good sign? It was probably a good sign. Right?

 Mlle Bustier watched the clock. As it struck the top of the hour, she clapped her hands together once. “Good afternoon, class.” The class responded in kind, then quieted down and found their seats. Posters wobbled as students set them down. “Presentations for your superstitions compositions start today. I’ll give you the first five minutes to confer with your partner. Alya and Chloé, Adrien and Marinette, Rose and Juleka- you will all be presenting today, in that order. As you meet with your partner, please turn your essays in- with both your names at the top- on my desk. Go ahead and get to work, my brave researchers!”

 The class all stood back up. Adrien felt hot even before Marinette walked towards him. “HI MARINETTE!” he said all too loudly. But Marinette had already walked past his desk carrying their essay.

 She turned around and blinked at Adrien, cheeks slowly turning red. Then waved at him with the essay in hand. Marinette pointed to the essay, then to the teacher’s desk. Adrien said, “good idea!” and sat down in his seat.

 Nino was still next to him, since his partner was turning their essay in. He laughed, smacking Adrien’s back. “‘Good idea’?! Dude, what is up with you? Why so nervous? You guys kiss yet or something?”

 “No,” Adrien hissed, eyes still on Marinette’s backside. 

 Nino raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You _about_ to?”

 “She’s coming back! Nino, she’s coming back! Shoo!”

 “Alright, alright. Chill, man.” Nino put his hands up defensively and chuckled. Then he looked over Adrien’s head. In a normal volume, he called out, “Hey! Mylène! Your desk?” and went off to meet his partner.

 Marinette came over and sat carefully next to Adrien. She smiled at him, clearly trying to look warm and inviting, but Adrien knew it wasn’t the comfortable, confident Marinette he had hung out with just the day before at lunch. _That’s a good sign that maybe she was the one dropping hints yesterday...and maybe she knows who I am? But how could she know?!_ Marinette spoke up. “Hey, so...we’re second! That’s pretty good, right?”

 “Not first, not last. It’s great!” Adrien squeaked. He kept looking from Marinette (was she that pretty yesterday?) to his note cards.

 “Adrien,” Marinette said, reaching out to grab the cards from him. “You’re crinkling your cards.”

 “Oh. Sorry, my-Marinette.” That was _absolutely_ something Ladybug would do. But maybe he was looking too much into this! He wiped his hands (why were they sweaty?) on his jeans while Marinette straightened out the cards against the corner of the desk.

 “Are you, um, nervous about the presentation?”

 “Yep! That’s it! That’s why.”

 “Oh. Me too!” She said, looking away.

  _Aw man, really? Then maybe she_ isn’t _nervous because she just...wait...I lied. Maybe she lied, too!_ He cleared his throat. Maybe he could fish a little more for answers with a little more honesty. “I’m also...uh...I had some crazy stuff happen with my Cookies yesterday.”

 Marinette looked up at him and visibly swallowed. “Me too. Not about Cookies. About...um…”

 “Lemonade?”

 “Y-yes, that!” She took a deep breath and shook herself. “But listen, A-Adrien.” She took another deep breath and sat up tall. “We can’t let that shake us. If we put in a month of hard work and our _nerves_ ruin this presentation? I will just...I can’t take that.”

 Adrien’s heart pounded. Marinette gripped the side of the desk like she was facing down Chloé, a bully, or even an akuma. “You’re right,” he said. “You’re right. We know this stuff like the back of our hands.”

 “We don’t even _need_ cue cards!”

 “But we can still bring them up, right?”

 Marinette laughed. “Of course we can.”  And that laugh brought Adrien back up to the surface of his anxiety, gasping for air. There was his Marinette. If she could do this, so could he. If he could fight alongside Ladybug,then he sure as hell could _stand up_ with her! And so what if she wasn’t Ladybug? Did that change how he was starting to feel about Marinette? 

 Well. Maybe. He hadn’t really thought about that part. But they weren’t giving a class presentation on their feelings! He didn’t have to figure that out right now...right?!

 Marinette at least seemed to have more confidence than earlier. Although Adrien did notice she kept glancing at his eyes and up at his hair. So they skimmed through their presentation, reminded each other of their transitions, and each pulled out their good luck charms. By the time Mlle Bustier called for everyone to sit back down, Adrien was at least confident they would rock the presentation.

 Their composition teacher called Alya and Chloé to the front. Alya carried a rather large, thick poster. It was wrapped in gold foil with 3-D ladybug stickers artistically swirling around, the poster professionally printed with some of their key facts. No doubt this was Chloé’s contribution.

 The two girls stood on either side of the poster. Adrien noticed both were looking at their table- Alya giving a thumbs up to Marinette and Chloé blowing a kiss to Adrien. Adrien sheepishly waved back. Chloé looked sufficiently satisfied, and she began their presentation. “We have spent _forever_ researching the lucky properties of ladybugs and, of course, researching my closest friend, Ladybug. In fact, she worked one on one with me for our project, so many of our facts come from a first-hand source.”

 Alya was biting her lip with wide eyes during Chloé’s introduction, a look Adrien was sure would have been rolling her eyes or yelling if she didn’t want to fail. He looked at Marinette, who looked outright disgusted at the accusation that Ladybug- or maybe _Marinette,_ would work with Chloé one on one. 

 Alya took over for the next line. “The legend of the luck of the ladybug has been recorded in dozens of cultures for generations. Paris’s own superheroine, Ladybug, may in fact be a reincarnation of the Ladybugs of Legend, as mysterious Ladybug heroes have dotted history for the past 5,000 years.” Adrien looked over at Marinette. She was positively beaming at her friend, occasionally looking down into her purse. 

 “But which came first,” Alya continued, “the superstition of lucky ladybugs, or the Ladybug hero of lore? We believe they influenced each other, which we will explain through understanding the ladybug’s impact on the ecosystem, Miraculous Ladybug’s abilities, and the history of the superstition itself.”

 As Chloé and Alya continued their presentation (Alya doing most of the talking), Adrien found the most amusing person to watch was Marinette. She seemed truly fascinated by Alya’s project. When they discussed Ladybug’s abilities, she looked both amused and delighted.True, Alya was Marinette’s best friend, but should she be _that_ involved?

 Then, Chloé joined in on their section of her abilities. “Another important thing about Ladybug’s luck is her lucky ability to, like, not show up. When Ladybug is done fighting, she just goes off into the alley. As anyone with a fair amount of fame and respect, such as myself, would know, disappearing from the press is nearly impossible. So, luckily she, y’know, with luck, disappears completely from view. Invisibly!” _What?_ Adrien thought, furrowing his brow in confusion. He chanced another glance at Marinette. Her mouth hung open in shocked confusion and he read her lips, ‘What? Nooo.’ “Which is also why you don’t see her at my house all the time. Obviously. Invisible.”

 To her credit, Alya also visibly looked like she didn’t believe her partner’s claim. Still, Alya let Chloé finish her portion of the abilities before moving on to their last point. 

 Adrien returned to watching Marinette, then back to the girls presenting for their conclusion. After applause and high fiving his two friends, the room buzzed into general conversation. “That was pretty good,” Adrien told Marinette. 

 “With Alya on board, I’m not surprised. Even if it hadn’t been a topic she loves, Alya is _great_ at researching things!”

 “Adrien and Marinette, you’re up!” Madame Bustier finally called from the back of the seat. 

 Adrien and Marinette nodded at each other. They grabbed their poster decorated in skillful illustrations of pennies and coins, baseball cards, bead bracelets, a rabbits foot, and four leaf clovers. Adrien flipped his cards to the right ones and stood next to Marinette. This was the moment they had prepared for. All the extra work just to see her only made it sweeter. 

 Marinette began, her voice clear and steady. She hardly even glanced at her notecards. “What is luck? How do we harness it? Like all forces for good, humanity has chased after ‘luck’ for as long as we have stories to tell. However, In a human race led by migration and daily activities, luck cannot just be something to chase- it needs to accompany us as we chase our lives. This is where the lucky charm comes into play.”

Adrien picked up his cue immediately. He hoped he projected as well and as confidently as Marinette. “A ‘lucky charm’ is an umbrella term for any small object that the owner believes will bring them portable luck. Through understanding the history of the concept, the application of lucky charms in our own world, and an understanding of the psychological effects of a lucky charm, we can truly understand that lucky charms work, one way or another.”

They leapt right into their presentation. With grace and practice, the two covered each section eloquently. Adrien could anticipate Marinette’s pauses and would speak his line and she would gesture to their poster when applicable. They each pulled out their own lucky charms, using personal anecdotes of how the charms came to be (Rose squealed an ‘awwwww!’ out loud). 

In their middle section, Marinette explained how Ladybug’s own ‘Lucky Charm’ worked in the most succinct manner, tying it in excellently with a modern understanding of the term and how luck played into the idea of an unrelated object. Marinette mimed actions as she explained, casually but sharply. Although she didn’t yell or gesticulate with quite the fervor of Ladybug in an actual battle, Adrien could see this was not just a guess. She knew exactly how Ladybug worked. She spun her body the right way, raised her arm the right height- even opened her fingers to the exact angle Adrien knew perfectly. He’d seen the Lucky Charm in action more than anyone else in Paris and Marinette had it down perfectly. Did he even need any further proof?

If he did, it was on its way. At Marinette’s subtle cue, Adrien began his introduction to their final point- the psychological effects of a lucky charm. Marinette pointed to the second half of the poster, pointing to each section of the brain as Adrien read off advanced studies on the effects of placebos and telling participants they had ‘good luck’. Marinette jumped in and engagingly explained the science behind a ‘gut feeling’ and the effects of confidence on a person’s actions. Adrien took over the pointing as she described. He took his chance to watch the class- most were engaged and Mademoiselle Bustier looked just delighted.

 It was his turn to begin their conclusion. They had a minute and thirty seconds before they reached their max presentation time, exactly as practiced. He summarized what they had discussed briefly, adding another historic fact about the English king Charles II and his good luck coins.

 Marinette took her cue immediately, speaking with emotion and heart as she wrapped it all up. 

“As our understanding of the human brain improves, we begin to understand the ancient concept of a lucky charm more and more. While one particular charm may not have more luck than another, it is the owner who truly bestows the luck. That is why my string of beads may work well for me, but not for an Irish man who prefers a four-leafed clover.” She gulped. She paused. Adrien looked at her with a question in his eyes. This wasn’t his turn- it was Marinette’s! She hadn’t even let him  _ practice _ the concluding remarks. She hadn’t been looking at her cards and now started crumpling them together nervously. 

 After a deep, dramatic breath, Marinette finished. And Adrien realized why she had suddenly grown nervous. “The emotions we attach to lucky charms provide the confidence we need to give ourselves a better chance at getting through the day. Maybe it’s luck, maybe it’s magic, or maybe it’s just our own subconscious... but it definitely works. There’s nothing wrong with a physical reminder of someone or something you love.” Her eyes flicked to his, then back to the class. It was so fast, Adrien wouldn’t have even noticed it if he hadn’t been staring, shocked, at the girl to his side. “Thank you,” she hastily finished.

 The class applauded, Alya whooping loudly and pumping her fist in the air. Chloé looked over at her in disgust, then returned to her polite golf clap. “Way to go, Adrichou,” she called out. Marinette’s face was bright red as she and Adrien returned to their seat.

  _Good job, Marinette. We did great, Marinette. What was that you said at the end, Marinette? I swear I heard someone say that before. I think I’m in love with you. What a good presentation! Wow, I think we got an A. Did you quote Ladybug just now? Are you Ladybug?_ Adrien’s mind was flooded with possible things to say to his partner during this moment in between presentations. But he couldn’t say any of them. His tongue had swollen much too large and his mind was moving much too fast. 

 Besides, she was adamantly not looking at him, searching for something desperately in her bag so her entire body was turned away from him. She kept that position, hunched over and avoiding him (the bag wasn’t even that large!) until Mademoiselle Bustier called Rose and Juleka to the front of the room.

 Adrien was sure his two friends did a great job. Rose was beaming enough for both of them in front of their rainbow poster. Juleka spoke softly, Rose squeaked through the majority of the presentation, and it was probably very interesting. But honestly, Adrien didn’t even know what their topic was. He was much too busy freaking out. His suspicions from the night before had just been basically confirmed- those _were_ words from their presentation that Ladybug used. She had used Marinette’s words. Or Marinette had used Ladybug’s words? Ladybug had Adrien’s lucky charm bracelet. Marinette had just spent eight minutes talking about her lucky charm, the one Ladybug claimed to own. Either way...surely, it meant that Marinette _was_ Ladybug.

 And Marinette avoiding his eye surely meant that she was embarrassed about giving herself away.

 After all, their presentation was incredible! She had no reason to hide if that wasn’t it.

 That was it.

 It had to be.

 So what was his next move? Should he just...tell her what he knew? Ask her if it were true? It seemed lose-lose. If she _wasn’t_ Ladybug, he was potentially giving himself up as Chat Noir. Plus, Marinette would think he was crazy. And if she _was_...how many times had Ladybug insisted they keep their identities a secret? But then why leave such a blatant clue…?

 Adrien was still pondering this decision when the bell rang and Mademoiselle Bustier excused the class. She announced which three groups would present the next day. Adrien was still gathering his stuff and Marinette was out the door already...so like it or not, he had more time to plan. Nino caught up to him.

 “Hey, man. You guys _killed_ on that presentation! I actually enjoyed myself, learning and all. That was nuts!”

 “Thanks, Nino,” Adrien replied, distracted.

 “Yeah. I guess all those times you said you were ‘working on your project’ with Marinette, you were telling the truth.”

 “Of course I was! What did you _think_ we were doing?” Adrien balked. Nino replied wordlessly by waggling his tongue around. “Dude, no way.” He pushed him aside. “It’s not like that.”

 “Yet?”

 Adrien sighed. The two friends got out the door, walking down the hall. “I don’t know, man. Maybe. She’s…”

  _“ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGED!_ ” Adrien stopped in his tracks. Marinette was shouting at the bottom of the stairs in the courtyard, standing with Juleka and Rose directly behind her. Rose was clutching her girlfriend with one hand and their poster with another, wiping her eyes, while Juleka shuffled from foot to foot. In front of them stood two boys from the lycée, sneers slowly shrinking off their face.

 Marinette continued to shout, “What are you even _thinking_?! Were you thinking that this kind of crap is funny? That making fun of someone because they found love is _hilarious_?!” She moved her weight from one foot to the next, her entire body settling on the point as if ready to attack. Her hands were even low, arms bent near her waist. “Juleka and Rose are the sweetest, kindest, most deserving people to find love that I know. And yes, it’s with each other. And yes, they’re both girls, and _yes_ , that love is pretty gay. But why the hell does that matter to _you_?! You’re not the one in the relationship!”

 Adrien slowly started to creep closer to the edge. He wasn’t the only one- Marinette’s shouting had attracted quite a crowd on the overlooking walkways. Adrien noticed how she didn’t seem to realize any of that. Marinette’s eyes were hyper focused on the two teenagers in front of them. Instinctively, when one would move a foot, she’d move hers to match. It was terrifying. And inspiring. “But I guess that could be part of your problem, couldn’t it? Are you just upset because both of them have a prettier girlfriend than you two will _ever_ deserve?! Because I don’t see why having a poster with rainbows and having a beautiful girlfriend should be cause for your boorish, callous, goonish actions and words!

 “Your comments mean and amount to _nothing_. Null. They don’t change how good love is! But words can still hurt. The words you choose, the ones you pick out of even your dull and small vocabulary have power. And maybe you would have gone home tonight and forgot all about what you said. And most likely, these two women will grow up to have lives with a lot more worth, love, and happiness than your sad existence could manage. But we can’t risk our lives on a best case scenario! 

 “Look around, you dolts. Look around at this city; just at this school! How many of your friends have been akumatized because they were hurt by words? Huh?! How many?!” She had fire burning in her eyes now, especially at the mention of an akuma. The boys were silent. Their sneers were gone and they were now shrinking behind one another. Monsieur Damocles was also watching, silently, from the top of the stairs. “How _many?!_ Can you not understand my French?!”

 “Four,” the dark-haired boy muttered.

 “I think that’s four too many, don’t you?” she seethed. “If you’re not going to stop your idiotic, vile bullying out of regular human decency and respect for another’s life, then do it to stop these awful akumas! Because if you don’t and if you keep hurting people, especially because you think their way of loving is funny, or gross, or weird, or whatever other degrading feeling you have for something that is none of your business...they’ll evilize. And I can promise you three things. Number one: You’ll be the _first_ victim they go after. Number two: Ladybug and Chat Noir won’t pity you _at all_. Number three: their hearts will _never_ be as black as yours.”

 Marinette’s voice was dripping with disdain and radiating with power. The body language of the bullies and victims had entirely swapped. Juleka and Rose now stood behind her, confidently holding hands. The two boys were seemingly trying to hide behind each other. But Marinette wasn’t done yet. Her posture changed just slightly, pulling her head back directly over her spine instead of arching forward, ready to attack. Her shoulders lowered and her fists loosened. “Now, I recently spoke with the best teacher in the world. She told me that there are people in this world who don’t know _how_ to love. You two, who mock love when you see it, seem to be prime specimen. She said we need to give them good examples of love and kindness. I love the girls behind me. And their love for each other is the single best example two heartless idiots like yourselves need. So the next time you feel like insulting someone or mocking someone because they can _love_ , watch instead. Learn something. God knows when you’re as hopeless as you two you’ve got nowhere to go but up. And if you think you can just claim that it’s not bullying, that you just ‘don’t approve’ of two strangers’ relationships...do us all a favor and grow the fuck up.”

 The kids around the walkways began to applaud, many shouting out ‘oooooh!’ at Marinette’s word choice. Adrien’s heart finally started beating again. _That’s her. That’s the woman I love. That’s Marinette. Ladybug_ is _Marinette_. Monsieur Damocles pushed past Adrien, muttering “I think that handled itself just fine...I didn’t see anything...I didn’t hear anything...no punishment needed for anyone…”

 The kids were now whooping and hollering, but Marinette was choosing to ignore them all. She waved off the upperclassmen (who scampered off in shame) and turned to her two friends. Over the din of the school, Adrien couldn’t hear what she was saying. But he could see her body language. The way Marinette just barely crouched, lightly touching their arms. The softness in her eyes and the slight smile on her lips. Adrien saw it all. If her verbal assault powerful enough to kill any akuma hadn’t proved it, this would have. This was Ladybug, caring for an akumatized victim, making sure their heart was pure again and that they felt safe, happier, and not at all guilty.

 Nino was still standing behind Adrien. He laughed out in triumph, smacking Adrien on the back. “DAMN! I don’t know what those two losers did, but they’re going to have nightmares about tiny little Marinette Dupain-Cheng for _years_. Dude, did you even know she had that in her?”

 Adrien smiled. He was still staring at Marinette, now sweetly laughing with the girls. The end of a battle was always his favorite part to watch. “Yeah, man. I did.”


	16. An Important Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The end! Our conclusion! Thank you all SO MUCH for following along and for telling me what you've thought as we went on this adventure. Your support has meant sooo much to me and really fired me up to work and post frequently. I hope it has been everything you've wanted it to be! And I'm very pleased that the reaction from those of you who stuck around and read has been mostly positive regarding the nerdy French notes.  
> I'm going to give news about the sequel in the end notes, so don't skip those this time. :)

Marinette gave Rose and Juleka each one last hug before her two friends left. She waved at their retreating figures. Suddenly, she felt arms around her waist. Marinette yelped in surprise as she was just barely lifted off the ground. “My  _ girl!  _ You murdered those idiots!” Alya’s voice rang right next to her ear. Marinette’s best friend spun her around for a second hug. “That was  _ incredible! _ That is what I’m talking about! See, girl? You are a god. Damned. Superhero!” Alya poked Marinette’s shoulder with each word, then laughed and hugged her again. “The whole school is going to be talking about that for weeks.”

“Alya, it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Marinette said sheepishly. Still, she couldn't hide a smile. It made her feel good to support her friends! Defending them against awful people? That’s what she lived for. “Anyone with a heart would have done the same thing.”

Alya chortled back. “Ch-yeah, anyone with a heart and ten-ton balls. You murdered them, brought them back to life, and murdered them again! And still, somehow, god knows how, managed to do it nicely?? You’re incredible!”

Marinette was blushing a little now. “Oh, Alya. That’s so sweet. You’ve stood up to bullies before, too!”

She shrugged. “Yeah, and I was awesome. But girl, never with the grace and power you just served…? I’ve never seen that before. I bet even Ladybug would have been impressed.” Tikki buzzed at that. Alya continued, nudging her friend, “And I know for a fact that Adrien was….”

Marinette’s smile disappeared and her eyes popped just a bit.  _ Adrien!  _ “Oh la vache, Adrien saw?”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Alya laughed out. 

Marinette chewed her lip. If her theory was right and Adrien was Chat Noir, they were still going to have to...well... _ talk _ , eventually. And Marinette might be able to face down two homophobic bullies, but talking to her double-sided crush about the biggest secret in her life..? “Can we hide in the library?”

“Do you mean talk in the library?”

“Sure.” Marinette grabbed Alya’s hand and bolted down the hall. Thankfully it was pretty empty, as most kids who had been there before had rushed out to watch Marinette face down the bullies. She pulled her best friend to a table between the stacks.

“So, what’s wrong between you and Adrien? Why are you worried he saw?”

“It’s not the Juleka and Rose thing. It’s...really hard to explain. Uh, you see…” Marinette gulped. She was  _ not _ going to let Alya know what was going on. But god, she wanted to talk about it. “I think I might know something about Adrien. But I don’t know if I know it, you know? I might just think I know it. But if I’m right, and I know the thing that I think I know, then Adrien and I- uh, we have a thing in common. But he doesn’t know about the thing! Even if I’m right about the thing that I think I know about Adrien, he doesn’t know the thing about me, I don’t think. So I decided, what if I’m right? What if I know the thing about him? So I left him some hints, okay? And I think that he thinks the thing about me now. But I don’t know if he knows. And I might even be wrong about what I think I know! And if I’m wrong, he isn’t going to know anything, but then I’ll never know anything either, and the thing that I think I know about Adrien will be all wrong and I’ll be so  _ sad _ , Alya! So I think that he thinks that I know the thing, but he can  _ only _ think that I know the thing  _ if _ it’s true, which means he would also know my thing, or at least think the thing, so right now I don’t know what he knows, or what he thinks, and if I’m wrong I can’t talk to him about it, and if I’m right I  _ shouldn’t _ talk to him about it, and so I just...I think that I don’t know what I’m supposed to think!”

Alya blinked. “Well...kay then.”

Marinette collapsed onto the table in front of her. “What do  _ you _ think?”

“Uh...that I have no idea what any of that meant at any point in time. But it sounds pretty merdique.”[1]

“ _ It is _ ,” Marinette groaned.

Marinette heard a soft knocking on the bookshelf next to them. She looked up from the table and saw Adrien standing to the side, looking nervous. He gave a half-smile and waved. “ _ Adrien! _ ” Marinette shrieked, sitting straight up.

“Uh, hey, Marinette. Hey, Alya. Mind if I talk to Marinette alone?”

“Good luck,” Alya told him. “See if you can get actual words out of this one. She was a lot better at word choice out in the courtyard.”

“Alyaaaa,” Marinette whined, grabbing her friend’s hand while Alya tried to stand up.

Alya looked back at Marinette. “What?!” she hissed. “Do you  _ want _ me to babysit your conversation so you can continue to use vague words and never actually figure out who thinks the thing and who knows the thing?”

 For not knowing what Marinette meant, Alya spoke real truth. With anyone else at the table, Marinette never would figure things out. She had dug her grave; it was now time to lie in it. It was absolutely impossible to turn back now. “Noooo,” she sighed, letting go of Alya.

 “You can call me after, okay, girl?”

 “Okay,” Marinette said. She finally looked from Alya to Adrien, who looked more and more nervous.

 Alya left them before Adrien spoke again. “Uh...are you sure it’s okay? You don’t seem...ready to talk to me.”

 He looked so nervous. He’d never looked less like the Chat Noir Marinette guessed him to be. Well- there was only one way to really find out. “Yes, I’m sure. Let’s...let’s sit down.”

 Adrien took Alya’s seat, staring over Marinette’s shoulder at the window. Then down at his hands. Then finally up at her. “Um...during the presentation. You said something, right at the end.”

 This was it. Her trap. He had taken the bait.

Adrien continued, “You said something about lucky charms that my, uh, my friend told me last night. It was...it was pretty much verbatim.” Marinette swallowed. She wasn’t sure where to go from here, so she just silently let Adrien keep talking. After all, saying ‘yep! That was me both times! I’m Ladybug!’ somehow didn’t feel right. “You and I didn’t really practice the conclusion of our project. Your closing lines and all? You were so proud of them that you told me they were going to be a surprise. And you were right! They were  _ so good _ . But...um...they weren’t a surprise. Those lines were the things that my friend told me. I know I had never heard them before, but when my friend said them yesterday...I recognized it matched our project, right? I mean, I could recite our thesis in my sleep, so of course I recognized those lines fit. And then you said those  _ exact _ lines today in the conclusion. And it can’t be a coincidence.”

 Marinette listened closely. Maybe he hadn’t understood the bait after all. But he _did_ recognize it...so that meant he _must_ be Chat Noir.

 Right? 

 Marinette spoke up. “Where were you and your friend last night?”

 “We were out. Getting crèpes.” That sold it for Marinette. Her heart beat faster. Yes, yes, _yes_ , this was him. Adrien was Chat Noir. Chat Noir was Adrien. And he was sitting across a table in their lycée library, nervously scratching the back of his neck and figuring things out, bearing his soul, risking his secret. The one thing they’d swore to never do.

 Marinette decided she couldn’t let Adrien be the only one suffering. She should throw him a line- he deserved it. “My favorite crèpes are the sweet, fruity ones.”

 “...Like Nutella and strawberries?” Adrien asked through a strained voice.

  _Yes! Exactly like that!_ Swallowing hard, she nodded. “And I...I’ve always thought...the simple ones, with just lemon and sugar...they remind me of Lemonade.”

 “That’s…” Adrien’s eyes widened just a little bit. A smile started to tug at his lips. “And you like Lemonade, don’t you?”

 Marinette giggled. “Yes. I do. I like Lemonade _a lot_. And you like lemon sugar crèpes, don’t you?”

 Adrien blinked rapidly. He couldn’t seem to bear saying yes, so he just nodded.  “She...she likes Nutella Strawberry crèpes, too. My friend, I mean. The one from yesterday. When we were talking...she said some other things that reminded me a lot of you. Actually, it reminded me a lot of _us_.”

 “What did she say?”

 Adrien bit his lip, staring at Marinette. Was he struggling to know what to say, too? This was an awkward dance. Neither wanted to say the wrong thing first. Neither wanted to break a promise. But oh, how they both wanted to know. “She said...she said that she has a very close friend who gave her a special gift one time.” Adrien was speaking so deliberately and slowly that it was very easy for Marinette to follow along. He was, of course, still talking about Ladybug’s baiting conversation. Her own personal lucky charm. She played the conversation in her head as Adrien recalled it.

 “It was a gift that her friend made her as a birthday present. Just something small, but meaningful. He gave it to her so they could match, because my friend had given him something very similar before. He wanted her to have her own because whenever he saw the gift that my friend gave him, he thought of her. He...um...he wanted her to think of him, too.”

 “She never said all of that,” Marinette said cautiously. She had no idea what Adrien’s motives were when he gave her the lucky charm...were these them? Had he cared about her for that long? Adrien looked at her, his eyes twinkling.

 “No, you’re right...she didn’t really know the last part about how he felt, I guess. Did she?”

 Marinette’s mouth felt dry. She licked her lips nervously. Her heart beat wildly. She hadn’t expected to learn secrets about Adrien...just Chat Noir. Finally, she spoke again. “No, she didn’t know that. He wanted her to think of him?”

 “Yeah. He did.” Adrien coughed nervously. “Anyway. Um. This friend of mine. She’s...she’s part of my ‘Cookies’.” _I knew it,_ Marinette thought triumphantly. “I’ve told you about that. I’ve told you how much my Cookies mean to me. And she’s a huge part of that. So when you said some of the same things that she said…”

 “My Lemonade is very important to me, too,” Marinette said, all in a rush. _You’re very important to me!_ “And I have to tell you...while I was, um, drinking my Lemonade one time, my very close friend, my very close friend who drinks Lemonade with me...he had something of yours.”

 Adrien’s eyes squeezed shut and his mouth hardened into a line like he was disappointed in himself. “Did he have my lucky charm?”

 “Y-yes. He did. I was actually really sad...I thought you had given it away.”

 Adrien reached out and grabbed Marinette’s hand. Her hand burned at the touch- a pleasant burn, like warm, melted wax. “I would _never_!”

 She looked from their hands to his familiar green eyes. Were they more magical when glowing from his miraculous, or glowing from this emotion he felt right now? She couldn’t tell. “I know that now,” she whispered. 

“Is that how you…”

“I started paying attention after that, yes,” Marinette said. “And when I really paid attention to you, looking for signs…”

Adrien grinned. Yes! There it was again! The Chat Noir Grin! “I’m pretty un-fur-gettable, is that what you’re saying?” 

Marinette bolted upright with bright eyes and a painfully wide smile. She gripped his hands maybe a bit too tight. “It really  _ is _ you!” Marinette whispered. Tears began to prickle her eyes. “I knew it, I knew it, but I couldn’t believe it…” She wiped the tears away quickly and saw tears budding in Adrien’s eyes as well. “And how did you….was it the same thing? My speech?”

“I started to wonder last night, with our crèpes,” Adrien answered. He sniffled and blinked rapidly. But the smile across his face betrayed he certainly wasn’t feeling sad  _ at all _ . “But I knew for sure when you told those idiots off a few minutes ago.” He laughed a little; a wet laugh, soaked with emotion.

 Marinette laughed too. “Really?”

 “You’re so brave, Marinette,” he said, his voice low as a secret. “I’ve only ever met one person as brave as you. And that’s…” he laughed again, eyes shining as tears dripped down his cheeks. “Well, she’s still _you_! And I know that now!”

 Marinette choked out a happy cry. He saw _all_ of her bravery, didn’t he?? Then her heart dropped a bit. “Oh, but Adrien...we’re supposed to keep this a _secret_.”

 Adrien’s smile faltered. He looked down at the library table. Marinette could practically hear his heart starting to break. Then he looked back up at her. “You know, you told me something once. You said that secrets are hard on people and hard on relationships. You said that you had a secret that was making, um... _your_...relationship fall apart.” He swallowed hard. Adrien seemed to be waiting for Marinette to remember this. In fact, he prompted quietly, “Do you remember? Sunset on your balcony, back in September?”

 Marinette thought back to September and when she had told Adrien about a secret straining her relationship. Marinette had never talked to Adrien about Luka! At last, her memory settled on the night...but it was Chat Noir she had told, and it was Ladybug’s relationship she was talking about. _Oh, god, he really is Chat Noir. He really knows I’m Ladybug. This really is happening._ “I..do. I remember that.”

 “Do you remember what I told you?”

 Marinette focused on the green in Adrien’s eyes, trying to see Chat as she answered. “That I wouldn’t have to keep secrets from you.”

 Adrien looked at their entwined hands and squeezed. “You don’t, Marinette.”

 “Are you sure?” she whispered. And then, pushing Marinette over the edge, she felt Tikki vibrate against her chest. _Tikki is okay with this. I don’t have to keep secrets from my partner anymore._ Marinette choked out a sob. “Oh, god, I’m so ready to not keep secrets from you, Adrien!”

 Adrien let out a relieved laugh, bringing her hand up with his (he didn’t seem to want to let go) to wipe away a tear. “I want to tell you _everything_ , Buginette.”

 “You can’t call me that here, minou!”

 “Oh, but you can call me _that_?”

 “No, I can’t, I just…” Marinette giggled. She couldn’t help it. How was any of this happening?! “I’m just _really happy_.” She took a deep breath. “But you and I have a lot, a _lot_ to talk about, don’t we?”

 “I look forward to it,” Adrien said softly. The look on his face was full of more love and joy than she had ever seen, even on Chat Noir’s face. She was choked with so many emotions of her own. Marinette wanted to lean over the table and kiss him- maybe that was something they should talk about, too.

 As Marinette went to open the floodgates of questions, she heard a scream from outside the library window. She pulled her hand away from Adrien and immediately snapped into Ladybug mode, body taut and eyes turned towards the disturbance. When she turned to face Adrien, he also looked ready to pounce. “They’re calling for us,” she said. “I know we have a lot to discuss, but…”

 “We can discuss after,” Adrien finished for her. He wiped stray tears away and nodded with great intent. Adrien stood up and smirked at Marinette. He grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the window and a safe place for the two of them to transform. There would be plenty of time to talk after doing what they did best. “Shall we, my lady?”

 Marinette looked around briefly. There was still no one nearby. She grinned and pushed open the window. “Let’s bug out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 Merdique: "Shitty". Comes from "Merde", of course, and this word just sounds really cool when you say it; it sticks on your tongue.
> 
> \---
> 
> Thank you again for reading! What wonderful people you all are!! Maybe you got to the end and you're sitting here like "...what, no kiss? Where's the relationship payoff?". If you are feeling like that, I have Good News. This story focused on the reveal and how secrets impacted their relationship before and leading up to said reveal. That did make the reveal a stronger factor in this story than the relationship, but that's why I've written a sequel.
> 
> In the sequel, which will be called "I'm Your Lucky Charm" (as opposed to 'you're my lucky charm'...I'm very clever. It isn't even about lucky charms as much, I'm just tacky.), we will be looking more at the nature of the romantic relationship. How do secrets play into that kind of relationship post-reveal? How do their priorities change?  
> I'm very excited to share the sequel. It has more planning than even this first part had and will pick up EXACTLY where we've left off, in the same universe, the same writing style, the same all that...but with more fluff. The sequel isn't quite finished. Ideally, I will have it finished before I start posting so I can keep a nice consistent publishing schedule like this one had. I absolutely want to get going before work starts again for me in September, so the hiatus between this story and that one shouldn't be longer than a month or two, tops.  
> SO, please subscribe to the "Your Lucky Charm" series (or bookmark it) if you would like Ao3 to notify you when I add the next story. I will also post about it on my tumblr when I get there.  
> While we wait for that to get posting, I would love to chat with more of you on tumblr! You can find my Ladybug blog at https://gwennhadu-bug.tumblr.com/. I'll also post story updates and any small bits of writing I might do in the meantime.
> 
> I am really going to miss interacting with you all every Sunday and Thursday. Thank you so much for reading and making this a really positive, enjoyable experience for me. This is my first fanfiction in four years and it reminded me how much I LOVE it. Please let me know what you thought, too. And i'm rambling now. Bisous a tous, and talk to you soon!


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